Yikes. Patrick Couderc, the managing director of Herve Leger in London, told the UK’s The Mail on Sunday that not all women should wear the brand’s iconic, skintight bandage dresses.
According to the site, Couderc said that “voluptuous” ladies and those with “very prominent hips and a very flat chest” should steer clear of the body-hugging garments, and that lesbians should also avoid the look. “If you’re a committed lesbian and you are wearing trousers all your life, you won’t want to buy a Leger dress,” he said. “Lesbians would want to be rather butch and leisurely.”
Couderc also told The Mail that women over a certain age should not wear the dress. “What you’re not noticing is that your cleavage is about two inches too low because you are 55 and it’s time that you should not display everything like you’re 23,” he told the site, referring to women trying on the dress in stores.
The body-con styled dress, which was first produced in the 1980s and relaunched by the brand in 2007, has been worn by numerous celebrities, ranging from Miranda Kerr and Kim Kardashian to Caitlyn Jenner.
Though many famous women can pull off the dress, Couderc said he wouldn’t give away free dresses to just any celebrity either. In fact, he refuses to offer garments to those who “lack sufficient class.” When asked about UK reality stars wearing Herve dresses, Couderc stated: “You can be a victim of your success.”
After The Mail on Sunday published his quotes, comedian Margaret Cho fought back on Twitter, urging a boycott. “Boycott the #bandagedress,” she tweeted along with a link to the story. “I remember being in a shop in the 90s called 'horn' and a dress being PULLED from my hands – they said THAT'S TOO SMALL YOU'LL RIP IT #f—ku,” she wrote in a follow-up tweet. “F—k fashion and 'designers' that body shame @HerveLeger #wecanwearwhateverthefuckwewant #boycottherveleger.”
On Monday, Aug. 17, BCBGMAXAZRIA Group said that Couderc is not an authorized spokesperson for Herve Leger. “The Herve Leger by Max Azria brand and its parent company, BCBGMAXAZRIA Group, are shocked and appalled by Patrick Couderc’s comments made in the Mail on Sunday,” the company said in a statement. “BCBGMAXAZRIA Group is working in concert with MJH Fashion, the London-based licensee of the Herve Leger brand, to investigate and establish appropriate next steps. The statements made by Mr. Couderc are not a reflection of Herve Leger by Max Azria or MJH Fashion ideals or sentiments. The Herve Leger by Max Azria brand celebrates sensuality, glamour, and femininity without discrimination.”
