Kookai accused of body-shaming customers as Yassie Marie recalls her story on TikTok
A Tiktokker has taken aim at fashion retailer Kookai, and quickly gained a groundswell of support, after she said she was body-shame, claiming staffers told her “we don’t stock plus-size items”.
NSW
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A woman has called out Australian fashion retailer Kookai after claims she was body-shamed by staff members who said they “don’t stock plus items.”
Yassie Marie shared the story on her TikTok account, drawing attention to hundreds of exasperated users.
The woman, who goes by the handle yassiemarie, posted the video on Tuesday after she said she was “humbled” by the retailer’s lack of sizes in a Melbourne branch.
“If you ever wake up having a good day and your feeling good about yourself and you want to be humbled really quickly and knocked back to size just try on some sh*t at Kookai,” Ms Marie said.
“I walked in there today and pulled an item, some high-waisted pants off the rack and went to try them on.”
The woman claimed she was ignored a number of times by staff members in the shop until one worker finally assisted her.
“Hi sorry, do you have this in a bigger size it doesn’t fit,” Ms Marie asked.
“She took it off me and checked the tag and said ‘no sorry we don’t.’
“Can you tell me if another store has the right size and she said ‘no we don’t stock plus size items.’”
A humiliated Yassie Marie quickly left the store but found her size elsewhere.
“I don’t consider myself to be plus size, I walked out of there as fast as humanly possible and I was about to go home because I wanted to cry,” she continued.
“I didn’t luckily, I went into General Store and tried on a different pair of pants and walked out with a 28, which is a size 10 in denim.”
She left the Aussie fashion retailer with a short but brutal final message.
“F*ck you Kookai.”
Kookai is famous for its bodycon dresses and stretchy signature fabrics.
It also stocks a limited size range of size 6 to 14.
An apparent subculture of women being body-shamed at Kookai was evident on the social media platform, with content creators on TikTok talking of their in-store experiences.
On the platform they joke about how horrified Kookai workers are when they have to serve anyone above a size 8.
Yassie Marie’s official TikTok page, which posted from a Melbourne location, was bombarded with messages from hundreds of users.
“F*ck Kookai it’s the WORST!!! Such moles,” user Tenelle commented.
“Name and shame store,” Jada-Rose said.
“I actually worked at Kookai over 10 years ago during uni and literally still talk about that whole experience in therapy,” Bry commented.
“My friend went to Kookai once and was told upon arrival ‘sorry we don’t carry sizes that’d fit you,’” user Kianna Mia said.
Despite the majority of commenters supporting the woman, some spoke of their positive experiences in Kookai.
“I don’t know why people get so butt hurt about Kookai? Just avoid the store - if enough people abandon them they’ll go out of business,” Donna Chang commented.
“Kookai at southland, vic is great, the girls are lovely,” user Lovelustlibra said.
“The kookai’s near me have staff that are always so nice,” El commented.
In a second, follow up video, the woman explained how the fashion retailer contacted her and also revealed why she won’t respond to them.
“I have heard from Kookai, they reached out at about 400,000 views this morning and said they wanted to ‘have a chat today’ and ‘it’s not the customer experience’ that they uphold their staff to,” she said.
“I haven’t responded to that message because I don’t see much point I guess, I don't think they're going to change their sizing by having a chat with me.
“All that’s going to happen is that the person who was rude to me yesterday will get in trouble and hopefully she sees this and knows who they are.”
Kookai is no stranger to negative feedback surrounding body shaming issues with customers.
Earlier this year, a woman anonymously wrote a searing post in a popular Melbourne Facebook group.
“Why are Kookai workers so stuck up? I’m a size medium, and the looks I get copped as soon as I walk in made me uncomfortable. Has anyone else dealt with this before?”
A number of other woman shared their experiences in the comment section of the post.
“Kookai are the worst! I went in looking for a pair of trousers I’d seen online and could only find a pair of size 6’s on the floor. I asked the worker for my normal size 8, and she said to me, ‘I don’t think we stock your size here’.”
Someone else wrote: “I’ve never been more humiliated in my life, and as someone that has struggled with body image, I can tell you I’ll never go back there.”
Another shared: “I walked in there once, got side-eyed, and ignored while they helped all the thinner people.”
Kookai have been contacted for comment.
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