An underwear company that sells expensive underwear for ladies features a biological man in a bra and panties in its latest campaign.
Honey Birdette’s luxe outfit showed off a male model in a latest three-piece “Ruby” lingerie set earlier this week.
In a post on the corporate’s website Instagram account, model Jake DuPree poses in a red bra, panties and matching stockings and garter alongside a caption that reads in part: “We are going to proceed to make use of our voice to support and empower the LGBTQ+ community, women and anyone who desires to feel unbelievable in our lingerie. “
It includes a warning for many who don’t approve of a man wearing women’s underwear: “While thoughtful and constructive discussions are necessary for advancing the culture, hate speech and bullying won’t be tolerated on our channels. Comments of this negative nature can be deleted.
But that did not stop the wave critics and former customers who blasted the corporate on its Instagram page, including one who wondered, “Cannot women just have pretty things for themselves anymore?”
One other asked, “Which customer base is that this aimed toward? It wasn’t made to appeal to 99.9% of girls.” The post got 796 likes.
Similar posts Saturday on Honey Birdette’s Instagram page included one: “Unlucky decision you made.” One other read: “People just have to stop buying from such corporations (sic.)…”
DuPree describes herself as a non-binary “international burlesque artist”.
Comments on their Instagram page next to photos of them modeling lingerie, in addition to on Honey Birdette’s page, were “restricted” after DuPree’s photos were posted on Wednesday.
The corporate’s controversial ad campaign comes on the heels of Nike’s recent decision to feature transgender Dylan Mulvaney as a model in a sports bra and leggings ad.
Honey Birdette, which was founded in Australia in 2006, has 60 stores in Australia, the UK and the US, selling bondage clothing and high-end lingerie.
The corporate once billed itself as “a luxury lingerie brand made by women for ladies,” but after the controversy surrounding its latest campaign this week, it now uses the tagline, “A luxury lingerie company for everybody!”