A Gold Coast woman has claimed she was tricked into sending photos of herself to a man who convinced her he was a representative from fitness brand Lorna Jane.
The man, calling himself ‘Victor’, approached the woman claiming he was involved in Lorna Jane’s fitspiration” campaign. After sending through several photos, she received abusive calls from Victor telling her to lose 5-6 kg, get Botox and hide bandages used to cover her rheumatoid arthritis.
She said in a statement with Lorna Jane: “He told me he thought I’d be great for a campaign shoot for Lorna Jane and to get some images through. I was so excited about the possibility of being in a Lorna Jane catalogue as I adore the brand and what it stands for so sent the photos through.
“I thought it seemed odd when he told me I needed to lose weight, get some Botox and hide my disability as I didn’t think this is something that a brand like Lorna Jane would ever do as they try to empower women.” She took to Facebook to vent her anger at what she thought was a Lorna Jane representative.
Lorna Jane public relations manager, Belinda Zordan, said the company has stated investigating the claims and have contacted police. “Unfortunately this person has preyed upon young women, knowing how much they trust the Lorna Jane brand, and taken advantage of them for the purpose of gathering photos for his own personal use.
“He has approached girls via a blocked telephone number, never met them in person and emailed them via a gmail email account claiming that he works for the company.
“It’s extremely disappointing certain media were so quick to publish a story that was obviously a grossly incorrect version of the truth, blaming a Lorna Jane representative for this situation.”
This comes after a series of PR nightmares for the brand; including controversy over a job position for a receptionist/fit model who had to fit specific bust, waist, hip and height requirements, and a former staff member suing the company for staff bullying about her weight.
