Australian underwear brand, Bonds, goes full-woke – using bearded male to model bikini:
- 2m tall “non-binary” bikini model
- ‘Mikey’ uses they/them pronouns and has a beard
- Underwear company is facing calls for a mass boycott
Bonds is a major Australian underwear brand. It is facing backlash for using a bearded, non-binary model wearing a bikini in a new campaign. Bonds, a longstanding underwear, sleepwear and clothing brand, used several non-binary and LGBTQIA+ models as part of the campaign for its recently released Pride-themed collection. One of the models, Mikey – who stands at almost 2m tall, sports facial hair and uses they/them pronouns – has drawn a particularly strong response on social media, with a number of people expressing their outrage at shots of them posing in the Retro Rib Seamless Tonal Hi Bikini.
The online backlash was substantial, including these comments:
“I used to buy Bonds but I will no longer do so, seeing a man wearing women’s garments is seriously off-putting.”
“It’s insulting to women by putting the bearded model in women’s garments.”
“Go woke go broke come on people.”
“For their “Pride” 2024 range, Bonds has decided the best model for their women’s underwear is a man with “they/them” pronouns. Boycott.”
“Never buying from bonds again!”
“All my previous purchases are going straight in the bin. No one needs this rubbish.”
The company recently launched The UnGENderwear Project – “a multi-year initiative focused on breaking down gender norms and stereotypes in the fashion industry. That’s right, we’re upping our commitment to deconstructing fashion gender norm.”
Bonds also has a “genderfree” section on their website – showcasing biological males modelling bikinis and women’s underwear.
