BUSINESS – An Australian bikini brand has come under fire for sharing a video of a male model posing in a women’s swimsuit, almost a year after Seafolly suffered a similar fate for collaborating with non-binary influencer Deni Todorovič.
As it Happened
Moana Bikini, a swimsuit brand owned by body positive influencer Karina Irby, shared an Instagram video on Saturday of model Jake Young strutting around in a white one-piece swimsuit worth $130.
‘Obsessed with this look,’ the account captioned the post, adding that ‘Moana babe’ Jake was modelling a size small.
Customers Are Upset
Scores of upset customers have since commented on the video, with many accusing Moana Bikini of ‘allowing men to encroach on women’s spaces’.
‘Is that a man? I thought you were about empowering women? Men seem to be trying to take over everything women hold sacred. Our safe spaces, our identity and now our fashion,’ one user wrote.
‘Sorry but Moana, this is not how you empower women. This is once again giving men the power over us and saying they do it better,’ someone else added.
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‘Horrible Marketing’
‘Horrible marketing. Why is it everyone is trying so hard to be ‘woke’? The model is gorgeous but this is not it,’ yet another added.
Many commenters simply said they had ‘unfollowed’ the page and would no longer be purchasing Moana products.
The Company Statement
Moana Bikini has doubled down on its decision to share the video.
‘If Jake in our bikini upsets you that much we feel as though this may be a you problem,’ the brand wrote in a response to an unhappy follower.
Jake has also defended himself, insisting that his post is ’empowering to a minority’.
