'Sexualisation of girls': H&M takes campaign offline after allegations

The fashion chain H&M has reportedly taken a campaign offline following allegations that it encouraged the "sexualisation of underage girls".

The advertising campaign initially appeared in Australia and bore the slogan "Make those heads turn in H&M's back to school fashion". The advert was accompanied by a picture of two schoolgirls posing in the brand's pinafore dresses.

The advert has already been removed, an H&M spokesperson told the news portal Reuters. The brand said that it regretted the resulting irritation and wants to review the way it presents further campaigns in the future.

In December last year, the fast fashion brand Zara, which belongs to the Spanish Inditex group, was also criticised for a campaign. One collection was advertised with images of mannequins wrapped in scarves, which evoked comparisons with corpses from the war-torn countries of Israel and Palestine. It was also taken offline.