Witchery slammed after 'embarrassing' change: 'Absolutely disappointed'

Witchery surprised fans over the weekend by deleting all of their Instagram posts and teasing a rebrand, which was unveiled on Tuesday morning. While many shoppers welcomed the change and the new collection, many others were left shocked that the retailer had quietly removed size 20 from the whole collection.

Witchery has welcomed a new Head of Design, Kirby Hanrahan, who was previously Country Road's Head of Design for accessories. In an Instagram post, Witchery posted that Kirby is "introducing a fresh design direction and the next chapter of Witchery."

They added a quote from Kirby that reads: “We’ve designed ready-to-wear and weekend wear for a curated wardrobe that’s on-trend and effortless. Our collections mix directional pieces with beautiful basics, enhanced by fashion-forward details and accessories. Everything has been designed to mix and match together to make a capsule wardrobe.”⁠

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"Well done, Witchery, bold and brave, and we love it! 👏," one user wrote.

"Looking forward to see what the team has been working on for this new direction 🙌," another added.

Witchery has described the new collection as a "bold awakening" and is available in sizes 4-18. They also edited an Instagram post from Tuesday to include the following: "A note on our sizing… We’ve done a lot of work to improve our sizes and fits, ensuring they are more true to size and consistent across our collections. From size 10 and up, our sizing has become more generous, so if you were a size 20 with Witchery before, we welcome you to try an 18 instead."

'Speechless'

Fans hit back with criticism, with one user writing, "So you’ve ditched the size 20? It’s not a bold awakening if you cannot do the bare minimum for size inclusivity."

"So where are your curvy models? I see you go to an 18, it would be good if your models showed that," another added.

"It’s the ‘we welcome you to try a size 18 instead’ that got me good. Speechless," a third wrote.

"Who is going to tell Witchery that size isn’t a trend?" another annoyed user wrote. "Equally irritated and annoyed by the gaslighting of customers here by dropping a size and then telling the customers who are that size to try a size smaller."

"It’s genuinely so embarrassing to be proud that you’ve made your clothing less accessible for people lmao," someone else said.

"Yay, this is great news! Now I don’t ever have to go into Witchery which will be good for my bank account," one person sarcastically added.

Some also disliked the new direction and described it as "boring", with one previous fan writing, "I can’t believe I just made it to gold level for this to show up. We’re grown women with real jobs. What am I supposed to do with a crop top and a bubble skirt? I can’t wear that to the office.

"Also, aside from someone spilling some blue here and there, this collection is entirely lacking in colour. This isn’t a bold offering, this is a bland offering. I’m so sad I have to find someplace else to shop."

'Back-pedalling'

On Wednesday, Witchery shared a photo of someone who isn't a size 6-8 in one of their new dresses, which many saw as the brand "back-pedalling" after the negative feedback from customers.

'Baffled'

Model Allira Potter, a proud Yorta Yorta woman, shared her disappointment, commenting on the post, "This model is STUNNING! But making a quick scramble to post something inclusive after not addressing the backlash isn’t a vibe."

She also took to her Instagram Stories and shared the comment Witchery wrote about their new size range, and said, "A friend just messaged me and said go and look at the Witchery [Instagram] caption, and I've just inserted the last bit above. Now, the way that I'm reading this, because of my brain, I've read it as, 'If you're a size 20, we're not stocking you anymore, but you might be able to squeeze into a size 18.' Is that just me that's reading it like that because this is – I'm baffled."

Allira later added, "OK, just to clarify, so many people have messaged me to say, 'Oh, but that means the sizing will be bigger now, so therefore, a size 20 can fit into a size 18.'

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"Defeats the purpose because they had a really big opportunity to do extended sizing across the board and to be more diverse and inclusive but they didn't... So, that's where a lot of people are coming from. Overall, they suck."

Yahoo Lifestyle has attempted to contact Witchery but has been unable to reach a spokesperson.

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