The owner of an Australian start-up fashion brand has doubled down on her refusal to sell plus sizes after she was accused of being ‘fatphobic’.
Marie Efstratiou, who started the online Chimaera label in June, wasted no time alienating an entire target market last week as she kicked off her first publicity stunt.
The aspiring entrepreneur uploaded a video to TikTok with the caption: ‘Brands don’t need to stock XXXXL—you just need to choose health and drop to a safe size.’
The video was a short clip which showed Marie applying lipliner with the caption hovering over her face.
She added a second caption next to the video which read: ‘Ppl gon be mad but it be true #health #weight #obese #brandowner.’
Predictably, viewers were outraged by the video and flocked to the comments to slam Marie for being ‘not inclusive’ and ‘fatphobic’.
Marie Efstratiou, the owner of Australian start-up fashion brand Chimaera, has doubled down on her refusal to sell plus sizes after she was accused of being ‘fatphobic’
Marie, who started the online Chimaera label in June, wasted no time alienating an entire target market last week as she kicked off her first publicity stunt
‘The amount of size 6s that aren’t healthy, should we not stock their size either? You’re fatphobic doll,’ one person wrote.
‘You’re just saying that fat people don’t deserve nice clothes.
‘There’s always going to be fat people and unless you were completely secure with yourself, you wouldn’t care about that. Go off.’
‘I’ll let my PCOS insulin resistance know, hopefully these words of wisdom help,’ another added.
A third wrote: ‘Sooooo your clothing brand isn’t inclusive, got it!’
One muscular man chimed in with: ‘What about us men? I’m a XXXXL well technically a XXXL but my back and biceps really struggled to fit.
‘Are you suggesting I should lose muscle? I’m not overweight just buff.’
Notably, Marie replied to this comment with: ‘Nah keep the bulk son you good.’
Predictably, viewers were outraged by her TikTok video and flocked to the comments to slam Marie for not being ‘inclusive’
Marie launched Chimaera on Shopify in June and currently only sells three hooded jumpers and three pairs of sweatpants (pictured)
When Daily Mail approached Marie for comment, she declined to answer any line of questioning about this being a publicity stunt, but did provide a statement doubling down on her video.
‘Firstly, my post is addressing brands not having to stock such extreme sizes. I don’t believe that to be fatphobic,’ she said.
‘Not all brands need to be “inclusive” and if people have an issue with that, then the issue lies within themselves.
‘Being inclusive isn’t what I’m trying to be nor the audience I’m targeting. If there was offence taken to this post, that’s not on me. Obviously this is an insecurity of the offended.
‘I don’t cater to the people who had an issue with this post. So having them not purchase from my brand doesn’t pose an issue.
‘People who take everything personally are the people with victim mentality and they are definitely not my target audience.
‘In conclusion, yes I stand by my comments. I’m not one to make a statement and not stand by it.’
Marie launched Chimaera on Shopify in June and currently only sells three hooded jumpers and three pairs of sweatpants.
