What was topman thinking with these

But any attempt to argue that this particular design is perfect for the fashion-savvy man about town, who just so happens to have a very twisted sense of humour, is completely shot down by the inclusion of the words "I hate you". It's hard to imagine a situation in which anyone would say, "I'm sorry, but I hate you" - unless you let your mind go to some very dark places. Although it seems that Topman are doing their best to corner the market in misogynistic fashion, the high street retailer was quick to withdraw the T-shirts from sale and issued a statement insisting that the designs were intended to be "light-hearted".

The statement, which was printed on their Facebook page, read: 'We have received some negative feedback regarding two of our printed T-shirts. Whilst we would like to stress that these T-shirts were meant to be light-hearted and carried no serious meaning, we have made the decision to remove these from store and online as soon as possible.

We would like to apologise to those who may have been offended by these designs. But the fact that the statement attracted almost responses within just five hours indicates that even those who 'like' Topman aren't too impressed with the designs. And although there's the odd person who fails to see why they might be offensive and suggests that the wearer might just be saying sorry for cheating on his girlfriend or wife, that doesn't really make it any better does it?

After all, what kind of man would tell his partner that he's sorry for cheating, but he only did it because she 'provoked him'? No, it's clear that the vast majority of Topman 'fans' were suitably outraged, with some suggesting that Topshop should put things right by making a sizable donation to a domestic violence charity, which sounds like a good idea to me.

So I think it's safe to say that there's nothing light-hearted or funny about these T-shirts or the men who buy them. A spokeswoman said in a statement: "We have received some negative feedback regarding two of our printed T-shirts. While we would like to stress that these T-shirts were meant to be lighthearted and carried no serious meaning, we have made the decision to remove these sic from store and on-line as soon as possible. We would like to apologise to those who may have been offended by these designs.

But how on earth can T-shirts as offensive as these have been designed, manufactured and sold by one of Britain's biggest and most mainstream stores? Unfortunately, the store has refused to expand on the statement, to say when T-shirts first went on sale or how many have been sold. Doireann Larkin, campaigns manager at Tender, is all too familiar with the sentiments expressed by both shirts. And as for the 'breed' shirt — that's a classic case of objectifying women; of comparing women to dogs.

What was Topman thinking with these T-shirts?