Victoria Beckham is catching flak for supposedly promoting eating disorders after using a model some social media users deemed too thin.
The former Spice Girl ignited a firestorm of online controversy after she shared three snaps on her Instagram account last Tuesday to promote her clothing line’s fall/winter 2016 collection.
The posts show a Toronto-born Indian-Canadian 16-year-old named Chantal Habscheid, a newcomer to the fashion world who has attracted lots of attention in recent months, according to a recent Vogue article.
The images of the model flaunting Beckham’s designs in front of the New York City skyline rubbed some Instagrammers the wrong way. Social media users called the teen everything from “sick” to “unhealthy” to “gaunt.”
While some picked on the model, others called out Beckham for selecting Habscheid in the first place. Some declared they unfollowed the designer after being offended by the posts. One user wrote: “Do not promote this, a lot of young teenagers will go wrong way. It is wrong. You should know the average size, I don’t think is hard not to know.”
Some stepped to Habscheid’s defense. “You’re not her or her doctor so it is not your right to call her unhealthy,” wrote one user.
“Stop skinny shaming. It’s just as bad as fat shaming,” said another.
Eventually, after thousands of likes and comments, a user claiming to be Habscheid’s mother stepped in, telling Beckham’s followers that the girl pictured “is beautiful, hard-working and has genetics, like all of us, that predisposition her body to look a certain way.” Some would call her lucky and others might be jealous, she wrote, adding: “She is my beautiful daughter. I know [she] eats healthy most of the time. She loves salads and veggies. She also eats chocolate and ice cream frequently. I hope you keep your hate and judgment to yourselves in the future and let a young girl enjoy her new found success.”
This isn’t the first time Beckham has been criticized for using skinny models. In September, she stirred controversy when she used “too skinny” models on the catwalk when she unveiled her spring/summer 2016 collection at New York Fashion Week, according to The Daily Mirror.
That’s a change from earlier in her career, it seems. Back in 2011, one source told the British tabloid that Beckham was determined to use healthy models and wouldn’t take anyone smaller than a size four to six.