Sturgeon joins outcry over Clarks’ ‘sexist’ Dolly Babe shoes for girls

● Firm withdraws footwear range and apologises after criticism

Shoe firm Clarks has sparked a sexism row after naming a girls’ range Dolly Babe and a boys’ line Leader.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was among those who criticised the company, which has apologised for any offence caused.

The Dolly Babe range, featuring a heart print detail, has been withdrawn from Clarks’ website and the firm said it was removing the name from in-store products.

The Leader footwear, which carries a football image, remains on sale online in the boys’ school shoes section.

Ms Sturgeon tweeted: “It is almost beyond belief that in 2017 a major company could think this is in any way acceptable.

“Shows what we are still up against.”

Laura Waddell, a publishing manager at Harpercollins, wrote: “Clarks have named range of girls’ school shoes ‘Dolly Babe’ while the boys’ equivalent is called ‘Leader’.

“Out of touch, sexist and insulting.”

However, replying to the SNP leader, a Twitter user by the name of Tod said: “My daughter went through all phases from dolly babe to goth. It’s called choice and

0 Guest of honour Nicola Sturgeon takes part in the opening ceremony at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo on Saturday night made no difference to her selfesteem/worth.”

Jacob Rees-mogg, the Conservative MP for North-east Somerset, also criticised Clarks. “To call a pair of shoes for a girl Dolly Babe is dreadful. It’s wrong in all sorts of ways ... this is just really silly,” he said.

Carolyn Harris, shadow minister for women and equalities, described the situation as “blatant discrimination”, while Baroness Ludford, a Liberal Demo- crat, called the name choices “depressing”.

Clarks said the Dolly Babe range was “an old and discontinued line, with only remaining stock being sold through our stores”.

It said it had removed the shoe from sale online “following customer feedback regarding the name” and added it was working to remove the name from remaining in-store stock.

It added: “We are working hard to ensure our ranges reflect our gender neutral ethos and we apologise for any unintended offence caused.”

The row comes as the Advertising Standards Authority plans to crack down on adverts that feature stereotypical gender roles.

The curbs, announced last month, follow complaints about adverts such as one for Aptamil baby milk formula that showed girls growing up to be ballerinas and boys becoming engineers. 0 Clarks faced criticism for calling the range Dolly Babe