Anthropologie released a video featuring male ballet dancer Harper Watters modeling the brand’s women’s clothes collection. The video, posted on the brand’s Instagram on May 3, is getting a lot of attention on social media.
“To quote @theharperwatters, “Never anthro-pologize for being fabulous! Loving these #UnexpectedAndUnforgettable looks.” (Obviously, we couldn’t agree more!),” read part of Anthropologie’s caption.
The post gathered more than 1.8 million views and more than 32,000 likes in less than 10 days. However, not everyone was pleased with the campaign. The post, showing Watters dancing in high heels while trying on different dresses, received negative remarks that were referenced in unrelated posts after commenting was disabled on the video. Waters is the first soloist and the highest-ranked Black and queer dancer at the Houston Ballet.
Some Instagram users commented that Anthropologie was “replacing and erasing” women, while others went further, calling for a boycott of the brand, as well as of Urban Outfitters and Free People, which, like Anthropologie, are part of parent company Urbn’s global portfolio.
Recently, other brands suffered backlash for promoting inclusivity in their campaigns, with calls for a boycott of Nike after the brand partnered with transgender activist and TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney to promote their sports bras and women’s activewear. Mulvaney was also involved in another backlash involving Bud Light after promoting the beer on her social media channels.
Anthropologie did not immediately respond to a request for comment.