Advertising Standards bans American Apparel's 'schoolwear' campaign for 'sexualising schoolgirls'

Clothing brand American Apparel’s advert with a girl bending over in a short school-style skirt has been banned by watchdogs.

17:32 03 September 2014

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned American Apparel’s advert which showed a girl leaning showing her crotch and underwear while apparently unaware of the photographer taking the ‘upskirt’ shot. Complainants said that the images amounted to “underage porn.”

The Advertising Standards Authority said the images were “gratuitous and objectified women, and were therefore sexist and likely to cause serious and widespread offence”.

“Furthermore, we considered the images imitated voyeuristic 'up-skirt' shots which had been taken without the subject's consent or knowledge which, in the context of an ad for a skirt marketed to young women, we considered had the potential to normalise a predatory sexual behaviour.”

This is not the first time that an ad from the clothing brand has been banned. Previously, they were banned for their other “sexual and objectifying” portrayals of women.

The brand said one of the models was 30 years old and elaborated that the company’s models were “happy, relaxed and confident in expression and pose and were not portrayed in a manner which was vulnerable, negative or exploitative”.

The adverts featured “non-airbrushed, everyday people, most of whom were not professional models”.

Despite this, American Apparel remain notorious for their provocative fashion shoots involving very young looking women in skimpy clothing.