Spanish clothing giant Zara has pulled a children's t-shirt from sale after complaints that it was sexually 'suggestive'.
The front of the white t-shirt reads 'The perfect snack' with 'The strawberry: A small burst of sweet joy' printed in smaller writing.
On the back are two halves of a strawberry with a caption that reads 'Take a bite' and 'A burst of sweet delight, making it the perfect summer snack' and 'The strawberry: a small burst of joy'.
A TikTok user said she was 'shocked' at the t-shirt which was for sale the girls section of a Zara shop in the UK.
@chaos.to.sanity If you think this is wrong - please let me know so i don’t feel crazy… is this wrong? Or not? Personally, I’m disgusted - who is buying this t-shirt for their child?!! #zara #disgusted #foryou #fyp #fypviralシ #makethisviral ♬ original sound - LJ🪬
Irish Independent Columnist Mary McCarthy told Newstalk Breakfast the options for young teenagers like her daughter are limited.
"When she was 11, I found it really tricky to buy her appropriate stuff," she said.
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"The clothes are quite small for 11 to 12-year-olds... a lot of them had cutouts and panels.
"There were black leather trousers, crop tops and I just felt it was kind of inappropriate".
Ms McCarthy said teenagers are getting influenced by what they see online more than shops like Zara.
"The influencers they're looking at online are older than them," she said.
"They might be 19 - it's the same with the make-up and the skincare.
"It's being pushed on them too early and it's what they're seeing online."
A woman tries on clothing. Image: Alamy.Ms McCarthy said she recently saw two young girls in miniskirts and 'couldn't understand' why they were allowed to wear them.
"I remember going to see Taylor Swift in Paris and I couldn't take my eyes off these two girls," she said.
"They looked about eight and they had this cropped, sparkly top on and a really short sparkly miniskirts.
I just couldn't understand why their parents would put them in those clothes, but also that they're able to buy them - that they're available.
"I just think that kids should be kids.
"They're long enough worried about what they look like - I just think [at] the age of 11 there shouldn't really be crop tops for sale".
'You don't need lip gloss'
Ms McCarthy said parents have to take responsibility for what their children wear.
"Parents are buying their clothes until they're teenagers; we're the ones who are buying them the stuff," she said.
"I think it's time that we said, ‘No, you don't need lip gloss, you're only 10.'
"I also think that mothers have a big role to play... I'm trying to show my daughter it's fine to go out without make up sometimes".
She added that young girls seem to be wearing crop tops and similar clothes "earlier" than before.
Zara has been contacted for comment.
