Images of the “normal-sized” mannequins on display at a Swedish department store have been shared more than one million times on social networks.
The size 12 figurines have been used in all 76 Åhléns stores since 2010, but have only appeared online in the past week, when a blogger posted a picture on Facebook.
The images quickly went viral, attracting more than 50,000 “likes” in the first 24 hours.
The majority of mannequins have similar proportions to catwalk models and are usually no bigger than a size 8.
In Sweden, the average woman is size 12, so the department store decided to model its mannequins accordingly.
“Åhléns is using mannequins in different sizes because our customers, mainly women, look different,” Åhléns spokeswoman Monica Hultgren said.
“We’re all proud of them because of the positive reaction [from customers] and because it’s good to encourage a positive body image.”
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