Adidas’ swimwear collection is being criticized after a transgender model was seen advertising it on their website.
The sportswear giant recently collaborated with South African designer Rich Mnisi for the “Let Love Be Your Legacy” collection and campaign. The company’s campaign was aimed to “encourage allyship and freedom of expression without bias, in all spaces of sport and culture.”
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“In creating this collection, I had a strong impulse to speak to my inner-child and express to the world how LGBTQ+ allyship can create a legacy of love,” Mnisi said in an Adidas news release. “Unifying these themes together through my own visual language and Adidas’ iconic performance and lifestyle pieces is a powerful combination, making the collection a symbol for self-acceptance and LGBTQ+ advocacy. My hope is this range inspires LGBTQ+ allies to speak up more for the queer people they love and not let them fight for acceptance alone.”
While people did not have a problem as such with the message behind the swimwear, a number of conservative people – mostly women – took issue with a transgender model showcasing the product on Adidas’ website.
Two of the voices which rung out in the mix belonged to Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swim star-turned-women’s rights activist who believes in protecting female sports against transwomen, and Rep. Nancy Mace, (R-SC). They were among the many who took issue with the trans model advertising a woman’s Adidas swimsuit, although it was part of the company’s pride collection.
“I dont understand why companies are voluntarily doing this to themselves. They could have at least said the suit is “unisex”, but they didn’t because its about erasing women. Ever wondered why we hardly see this go the other way? Women’s swimsuits arent accessorized with a bulge,” Gaines Twitter.
Mace wrote: “I’m old enough to remember when women actually modeled women’s bathing suits, not men.”
Here are some of the other reactions on the swimwear collection:
