In a recent interview with Metro, H&M CEO Karl-Johan Persson said that his clothing brand is working to change the perception “that girls have to look a particular way.” He even admitted that in the past his brand had made “mistakes” in its ad campaigns: “I have to be honest and say that some of our models have been too skinny. That’s not OK.” Persson said that the clothing brand is currently working to show more diversity in its campaigns when it comes to the appearance of the models who are featured in its ads and catalogues. “We have a huge responsibility here. We’re a large company, many people see us, and we advertise a lot.”
His comments are a stark contrast to statements made by Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries who said that his brand doesn’t offer plus-sized clothes for women, because his store is intentionally exclusionary. “In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids.” Candidly, these sentiments did not go over so well …
