Fashion Director Axed For Saying Iconic Dress Isn't For Voluptous Women Or Lesbians

Lydia O'Connor
Updated
(Photo: Andrew Kelly / Reuters)
(Photo: Andrew Kelly / Reuters)

One of the men behind Herve Leger's signature bandage dresses insisted Sunday that "voluptuous" women and lesbians should stay away from the skin-tight frocks.

In an interview with The Daily Mail, Patrick Couderc, the UK managing director of the fashion line owned by the BCBG Max Azria Group, unloaded a list of types of women he believes shouldn't wear the bandage dress, a red carpet favorite named for its strips of stretchy material.

He has been fired, Page Six confirmed Monday.

His list of offenders includes "voluptuous" women, women with "very prominent hips and a very flat chest" and gay women.

"If you’re a committed lesbian and you are wearing trousers all your life, you won’t want to buy a Leger dress," he claimed. "Lesbians would want to be rather butch and leisurely."

A representative for the BCBG Max Azria Group told The Huffington Post that it does not endorse Couderc's comments. He is not a direct employee of the company and worked for MJH Fashion, the independent distributor to which Herve Leger licensed the brand in London.

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. 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 feminitity without discrimination.

The body-shaming, homophobic comments obviously struck a nerve among women sick of companies telling them which types of women can wear their clothes. Comedian Margaret Cho quickly slammed Couderc for his remarks and called for a boycott.

London-based author Kathy Lette, known for her feminist novels, also called out Couderc.

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This story has been updated to include a statement from The BCBG Max Azria Group and to note Couderc's firing.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.