Dive Brief:
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Upscale lingerie retailer La Perla took down mannequins from its New York City store in the SoHo neighborhood after shoppers complained the mannequins were grotesquely too thin.
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Tweets and store complaints led the store to remove the mannequins and publicly apologize for them.
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In a too-long-for-Twitter statement, La Perla enlisted the TwitLonger app to say: “We have an update on this 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, thank you for bringing this to our attention.”
Dive Insight:
Like Barbie dolls, most store mannequins do not sport real human proportions and occasionally, they go too far. Certainly that seems to apply to the mannequins at La Perla, which were not just unrealistic, but extremely so, with ribs sticking out. This is an example, at least, of a retailer getting complaints and responding to them quickly.
