Oh Polly fashion brand apologises for separate plus-size Instagram account

The brand apologised for a serious error in judgement.
Getty Images for Oh Polly

Online fashion brand Oh Polly has apologised for creating a separate Instagram account for plus-sized models.

The company faced backlash over the account, named Oh Polly Inclusive.

YouTuber Alissa Ashley described the account as "segregation".

The company initially defended the page on Twitter, saying they were celebrating diversity in their community.

They said: “This page is not just about different body types! This is about celebrating a wider range of people in our community.

“We’re also going to block anyone causing drama, body shaming, being abusive to our gals or generally feeling negative.”

But many people continued to criticised the company, calling the account “insulting”, “stupid” and “ridiculous”.

Ms Ashley, who has almost two million YouTube subscribers, tweeted: "What makes these women not suitable for your main page @ohpolly? Ohpollyinclusive?? Who approved this?"

"Like imagine calling yourselves inclusive and not wanting to post women that don't fit your 'aesthetic' on your brand page lmao," she wrote.

Another user said: “The phrase “zero percent tolerance” literally means “we are not tolerant” which seems like the opposite of being inclusive?? What were they even trying to say?”

One commenter said their strategy was a “mess”, adding that if the brand were inclusive they would post these images on their main page.

The new account has been taken down with the brand apologising for a “serious error in judgement”.

Speaking on Radio 1 Newsbeat, a spokesperson for Oh Polly said: "We established a new page with the specific aim of allowing our customers to discuss a wider range of issues.

"Improving diversity remains an absolute priority for us across all of our channels.

"We promise to continue listening to everyone in the Oh Polly community and, most importantly, learn from this mistake."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in