Sweaty Betty faces storm over ‘Lolita style’ ads for teen range
HIGH Street sportswear chain Sweaty Betty has been accused of ‘sexualising’ children in ‘Lolita-style’ adverts for gym wear.
The photos feature teenagers pouting, playing with their hair and preening for the cameras.
The brand’s founder, Tamara Hill-Norton, said she created the teenage range to encourage girls not to drop out of sport – and chose her two daughters and niece to appear in the shots.
However, mothers and customers have criticised the advertising campaign on Twitter, describing it as ‘highly inappropriate’ and having little to do with playing sport.
Angela Sandy Ambrose wrote: ‘Dear Sweaty Betty, this advertisement is highly inappropriate. As a parent of teenaged daughters, I’m furious that you would use an overly sexualised image that says nothing about the benefits of exercise. Shame on you.’
Fforest Piercy said: ‘Just poorly, poorly executed... why not shots of girls actually playing sports, being active, not just posing in a provocative manner.
‘I’m cringing thinking of what was said to make them look this way during shoot. Let children be children.’ Emma Sugden added: ‘This is too much... real role models come in all shapes and sizes. Let’s not demotivate girls who may already be body conscious.’
Becca Johns wrote: ‘Seriously Sweaty Betty who signed this off? I love your products, but I can’t buy from you again if you think this is an appropriate way to present kids clothes.
‘It’s bad enough that adult women are expected to be sexy whilst exercising but now kids too?’ And Kathryn Tyler added: ‘Disappointed by this Lolita-style photoshoot from Sweaty Betty. Feels really overly sexualised.’
The brand’s first teenage range – aimed at 11 to 13-year-olds – features £45 leggings, £40 shorts and £30 crop tops. Mini leggings for children aged two to four cost £25. In a blog post announcing the launch of the range, Mrs Hill-Norton said: ‘Since I founded Sweaty Betty, our core values have always included empowering women of all ages through fitness, so I knew I wanted to encourage teens to lead a more active lifestyle in a fun and playful way.’
She added that girls may be put off by ‘uncool’ and ‘unflattering’ PE kits – and that this range could inspire them to get active.
The mother of three also revealed she chose her two teenage daughters, her niece and a Sweaty Betty model to pose in the photos which feature on the firm’s website.
She wrote: ‘We shot the campaign for this with my two girls, my niece Esme and our model this season, Penny Lane … it was incredible to see the girls all laughing together creating these really light-hearted images.’ Founded in 1998, Sweaty Betty has more than 50 shops in the UK and six in the US. Mrs Hill-Norton and her husband Simon have built it into a sportswear empire which has cashed in on the trend for wearing fitness clothes outside the gym.
Its sales rose to £36.9million in the year to December 2015, up from £31.4million a year earlier.
Last year Mrs Hill-Norton told The Sunday Telegraph her children play an active role in the company.
She said: ‘They help me with presentations, travel with me to meet suppliers during their school holidays, come on photo shoots and visit our stores.’
Mrs Hill-Norton did not respond to requests for comment.