Well-known British company apologises for selling 'bra tops' to 6 year old girls

Parents complained after finding Santoni heart-patterned underwear tops for sale in M&S stores alongside a similar lace trimmed design and one with adjustable bra-style straps.

The styles were aimed at girls aged as young as 6-8 years old and had been labelled as "bra tops", although some were also called "crop tops". Another tag attached to the underwear suggested it was "a great way of getting girls used to the idea of wearing bras".

However, M&S has now changed both the labelling and description. The company is the latest retailer to become embroiled in a row about marketing inappropriate adult clothing to children.

Just a few weeks ago Primark was forced to withdraw padded bikinis aimed at very young girls, after it was accused of sexualising children. Senior politicians voiced their concerns, with Gordon Brown backing a campaign to have them removed from stores while David Cameron called them "disgraceful".

Children's charities have spoken out against the sale of bras to girls who are not yet developed enough to need them, claiming it robs them of a childhood.

The director of child protection charity Kidscape, Claude Knights, told The Guardian: "We've campaigned to combat a trend towards the sexualisation of children and one aspect of this is the production and selling of clothes that are absolutely inappropriate."

Abi Moore of feminist campaign Pinkstinks, which promotes realistic role models for girls, added: "Why on earth does a six-year-old need to practise wearing a bra? And should she be encouraged to do so? You might say the same of beauty parlours or make-up for six-year-olds."

Mark & Spencer denied the product was a bra top but said: "We're sorry that the labelling of our Santoni top has caused confusion.

"The garment is designed to be worn under clothing and doesn't feature any support or padding, which makes it totally appropriate for its intended age range. All future packaging of the product will be correctly labelled and we have already altered its online description.

"We are totally committed to ensuring our clothing offer is age appropriate." 


/Telegraph.co.uk/