La Perla is an upscale lingerie company recently criticized for using an extremely skinny mannequin in one of its store windows in New York.
Michael Rudoy (@mrudoy) shared the photo on twitter in which the caption said, “How does #La Perla think ribs on a mannequin is ok?!”
The ribs were so defined and protruding on the mannequin it sparked outrage by many including plus size model Louise O’Reilly who tweeted,
“Shocked by La Perla’s mannequins this is a terrible step back for body image. This should be banned.”
Rudoy included Seth Matlins’ twitter handle when he originally posted the photo. Matlins is an advocate for truth-in-advertising and retweeted with the hatchtag #NotBuyingIt
With many talking about it on twitter the company eventually decided to remove the mannequin. The company released a statement addressing the issue. “The mannequin photographed has been removed from the store and will not be used again by any La Perla boutique. We are in the process of redesigning all La Perla stores with a new concept image and the mannequins that are currently displayed in our US stores will no longer be used. We appreciate and value everyone’s comments and thank you for bringing this to our attention.”
This brings about once again the issues surrounding body image. Many feel this promotes a negative body image for women. Others may argue that it is actually another form of ‘shaming’ women because there are some who naturally have this body type. What do you think? Was this mannequin a good representation of women? Or do you think it serves to further promote an unhealthy and unnatural body image ideal?
T
See Inner Beauty 
Seems to promote anorexia. Women have enough issues with body image without seeing ribs on a mannequin.