The Bodzilla, aka April Hélène-Horton, calls out UNIQLO's exclusionary range following Canberra Centre opening

The Bodzilla, aka April Hélène-Horton, posted to her Instagram account with palpable disdain over the fact the Japanese brand only stocked limited sizes in store.

The video followed not only the store's Canberra Centre opening but a VIP event on Wednesday evening where she, other media personalities and members of the community were invited for a sneak peek of the new store.

Alongside a video where Hélène-Horton showed her audience the socks and bag she had purchased at the event was the caption: "We LOVE an invite to a store opening, especially when it's in my local area and I get to bump into some of the excellent CBR influencer/media talent we have here," she wrote.

"We don't love leaving after unsuccessfully browsing the store looking for one item of clothing that is made for big bodies. We love it even less when the opening speech talks about how the brand is designed to 'evolve with you' and is designed to make everyone's life better.

"[video description: April is in her walking gear and talking to camera, showing a brown paper bag then what she purchased. Her disdain is palpable.]"

UNIQLO's new store, which spans more than 1210 square metres and offers a full range of apparel for men, women, kids and babies, as well as 12 fitting rooms and six self-service check-outs.

However, while the brand's women's range extends from XXS to 3XL online (which, according to UNIQLO's website, is the equivalent to an Australian size four to 18), the Canberra store only stocks XS to XL (or size six to 14). Customers also have the option to click and collect where items can be delivered in-store to try on.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics's National Health Survey released in 2018, the average Australian woman has a waistline of 88 centimetres, making her a size 16 to 18.

According to UNIQLO, the demand for sizes not stocked in store make up a small portion of the brand's sales, but it is growing.

"It's always our aim to be able to provide customers a great experience, whether they shop in-store or online, and it's a matter that we will work on to ensure that we are meeting the requests of our current customers, as well as new ones," a spokesperson said.

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Since starting her social media account, @thebodzilla, Hélène-Horton has become one of the country's most prominent body positivity advocates. To date, her Instagram page - which promotes body acceptance and fat positivity - has 38,600 followers.

She said the issue limited in-store sizing is not unique to UNIQLO, with many other clothing companies being exclusionary in their offerings.

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"There will be people who say, well it's brand and originated out of Tokyo so those differences apply in terms of physicality," Hélène-Horton said.

"Sure, but we're not in Tokyo, we're in Canberra and if a brand wants to globalise and diversify and be inclusive, that means knowing who the people are that you're actually selling stuff to.

"I can't understand why you would want to draw people into a store and then be like, we've got nothing for you. The purpose of having a shopfront is so that people can browse and try stuff.

"I think it just speaks to the fact that this brand and lots of brands like them have no wish to be inclusive."

Hélène-Horton said Wednesday's VIP shopping event was the first interaction she had with the brand and didn't know much about UNIQLO's offerings aside from the round mini bag which has gone viral on social media.

Knowing people had loved the bag, she decided to take up the invitation to attend the preview event when it came through her manager.

"It said that this invitation is personal and not transferable, which obviously, I mostly took to mean you can't just tell someone else to turn up instead," Hélène-Horton said.

"But I guess what's not being said there is, that we specifically chose you to come to this event. That says to me that either the brand didn't really choose me, they just figured out that this person lives locally and has a presence online.

"It felt that they were more interested in commodifying my presence than actually making me feel welcome."

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