This company tried to create an anti fat-shaming sweatshirt but it blew up in their faces

A company called Revolve released a sweatshirt earlier this week with a highly offensive message. It reads: “Being fat is not beautiful, it’s an excuse.”

Twitter of course went nuts about it and a lot of people who saw it tweeted their anger and frustration. Model and body-positive activist Tess Holliday posted a screenshot of the sweatshirt—which was modeled by a thin, white woman—writing, “LOLLLLL @REVOLVE y’all are a mess.” Many questioned how the sweatshirt was approved for sale in the first place.

READ MORE: “I didn’t speak Paris”: Model says she can relate to problems of women of colour because she’s blonde

But the thing is, the sweatshirt was apparently never meant to be fatshaming in anyway, but bring attention to cyberbullying. The sweatshirt was designed by Pia Arrobio, who collaborated with actress and writer Lena Dunham, as well as Emily Ratajkowski, Cara Delevingne, Suki Waterhouse, and Paloma Elsesser to create the line. 

Basically, each sweatshirt was supposed to feature a hateful or negative comment that has actually been directed at each participating celebrity.

But because the images were released with zero context, there was an obvious backlash. 

Both Lena Dunham and LPA took to Instagram in response to the backlash in an attempt to clarify the campaign, and Lena claimed Revolve marketed the sweatshirt without her input or consent. She said a lot in her Instagram post, but basically the end of it reads: "As a result, I cannot support this collaboration or lend my name to it in any way. I am deeply disappointed in @revolve’s handling of a sensitive topic and a collaboration rooted in reclaiming the words of internet trolls to celebrate the beauty in diversity and bodies and experiences that aren’t the industry norm."

READ MORE: The #FatAtFashionWeek hashtag made us feel like we're all invited to the party

Revolve released a statement to E! News which read: “The prematurely released images featured on Revolve.com was not only included without context of the overall campaign but regrettably featured one of the pieces on a model who’s size was not reflective of the piece’s commentary on body positivity. We at Revolve sincerely apologize to all those involved–particularly Lena, Emily, Cara, Suki and Paloma–our loyal customers, and the community as a whole for this error.” [sic]

Some critics have noted that Revolve doesn’t even sell clothes above a size XL, so those who might have felt empowered by wearing the slogan likely wouldn’t be able to purchase it in their size.

Now the company plan to donate $20 000 (about R300 000) to Girls Write Now which is an organisation that provides mentoring to struggling young women and helps them find their voices through writing.