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Image: Bella Hadid via Instagram
Bella Hadid has ticked another item of The Model’s Bucket List: landing an athleisure campaign. The It girl yesterday announced she’s a face of Nike, with a campaign to come soon. She also posted a couple of photos of herself in Nike gear in front of a billboard with her face on it to Instagram.
But the announcement has rubbed some the wrong way, with hundreds of Instagram comments flooding the 19-year-old’s account claiming she doesn’t have the right body type for an athletic label, and criticising the brand for choosing Bella.
“This is why young girls get eating disorders, when being abnormally thin is glorified,” wrote one commenter. “Well done @nike.”
“Nike? She’s not an athlete but more importantly it’s giving young girls unrealistic expectations yet again,” another argued. “Why not use [Ashley Graham] come on now @NIKE have some sense.”
Nike has a history of using professional athletes in their campaigns, so disappointment in that regard is understandable. However, shaming Bella’s body – and her body type – is unfair, since we all come in different shapes and sizes. She recently told People that she’s lost too much weight in the lead up to her Victoria’s Secret parade debut at the end of the month because she’s been training so hard.
Image: Bella Hadid via Instagram
“I didn’t really mean to [lose weight],” she said. “Like I want boobs. I want my ass back. But it’s not my fault. My weight fluctuates and so does everybody’s and I think that if people are gonna judge, that’s the worst you can possibly do because everybody is different.”
She has a point. So if you’d rather see athletes over models in Nike campaigns, take it up with the brand and leave shaming a woman’s body out of it.
