New Look comes under fire for 'Cheat Day' pyjamas

Clothing brand New Look have been criticised on Twitter over a controversial item of nightwear.

A picture of the item in question, a pair of 'Cheat Day' pyjamas, mistakenly hung from a hanger from the store's 915 range, which targets young girls, was shared to Twitter by Steff Benton, and has quickly gathered traction.

'Even if this was a mistake, if this was in the wrong section; this is still an awful message,' she wrote alongside the image.

A second share of the image from user Ilona Burton quickly went viral, receiving more than a thousand retweets at the time of writing - including one from author JK Rowling, who has more than 7.83 million followers.

Ilona echoed Steff's sentiments, adding, 'Can we all tell @NewLookFashion that 9 year olds shouldn't even know what a 'cheat day' is? So wrong.'

'Picture courtesy of @FaeSteffi - Let's get this off the shelves/hangers.'

Commenters were equally outraged at the sentiment of the two-piece set, particularly as they believed it was aimed at a younger audience than intended due to the hanger it was displayed on.

'Totally agree. Sends out the wrong message. #everythinginmoderation,' one typed, whilst another said, 'This is NOT ok. Great work, body shaming in children.'

'Wow @NewLookFashion conditioning a 9 yo to feel guilty about food?? So irresponsible. You've lost a customer,' a third agreed.

'On the bright side though the lil shorts are cute, who doesn't love pizza (maybe it should say pizza day)', one mused, to which Ilona replied, 'I'm all for encouraging pizza eating!'

Some did say that they saw the product as harmless: 'I see nothing wrong with it. They should being taught a healthy diet and pizza is a treat...' - but the overwhelming consensus was that the item was sending out the wrong message to young shoppers.

When asked for comment on the matter, New Look told GoodtoKnow, 'The pyjamas in question are not part of our children’s range and are on sale in adult sizes only. It appears that they were mistakenly displayed in the wrong area in this instance and this has now been rectified.'

'This item is an adult pyjama set and is intended as a tongue in cheek novelty item, reflecting current lifestyle trends. New Look has always taken its responsibility in promoting body confidence very seriously, particularly when it comes to our younger customers.'

'As a business we are focussed on creating fashion-forward, quality clothing for customers of all body shapes, which is something we are proud to be taking a lead on.'