Harry Styles’ solo tour launch got off to a rocky start when the 23-year-old pop star was called out over the pricing of his merchandise.
In a tweet, which has since gone viral, an account named Harry Styles Updates posted a pic of the questionable merchandise price list from Styles’ San Francisco show.
The price list broke down everything available for purchase at the debut concert (including an absurdly priced $15 pin that followers lamented over) and incited outrage over two items: “T-shirts XS/S/M $40” and “T-shirts L/XL/XXL $45.”
Fans immediately took to social media to express their concerns.
One user tweeted, “I’m not overweight but have to get a large always because of my breasts and I have too pay extra for that.”
And another asked, “OK but why is it cheaper for skinnier people?”
One fan even pointed out the clash between the singer’s positive “kindness” message and this potential body-shaming controversy, stating, “Yeah like isn’t the point of the merch to ‘treat people with kindness?’”
However, there were some that were quick to point out that materials may cost more for larger sizes.
“It’s less material to make the smaller sizes. the only way to even it out would be to charge everyone $42.50 or not.”
Once the news of unfair pricing spread, the beloved One Direction alum and the company responsible for handling his merchandise were quick to rectify the issue.
“There was a mistake in size pricing at last night’s show; Harry and his team were unaware and this has now been rectified,” Live Nation Merchandising told Seventeen.com.
While Styles’ team has since corrected the problem, charging more money for plus size clothes is not new in the fashion world. Most recently, UK based Boohoo came under fire for charging a “fat tax” on its larger sizes.