By Amelia Proud

Published: | Updated:

She was yet to become the global star we all know (and some love), but the Taylor Swift in Abercrombie & Fitch’s 2003 advertising campaign is instantly recognisable.

Foreshadowing the schtick that would accompany her routine for the best part of the decade, Swift is the image of the brokenhearted country star in the shot.

Wiping her eye with a handkerchief, young Taylor stares forlornly into the lens with her guitar slung across her like a weapon about to be utilised.

It seems she knew they were all trouble back then, too, and that there was mileage in the fallout.

But she perhaps couldn’t have predicted that the turbulent love life which would fuel her modern take on the doomed dames of country crooning would also indirectly cause a row with the chain she once modelled for.

Exactly ten years later, Abercrombie & Fitch werre forced to remove a T-shirt commenting on Taylor’s love life after angered fans of the singer launched a petition claiming it was ‘childish’ and ‘hurtful’.

The T-shirt is branded with the words: ‘#more boyfriends than t.s.’, in reference to the 23-year-old singer’s changeable romantic status.

After numerous Taylor Swift fans, aka ‘Swifties’, shared their horror with videos, petitions and tweets, the retailer eventually pulled the shirt from production and issued an apology via Twitter.

‘Hey #swifties we no longer sell the T-shirt,’ wrote Abercrombie & Fitch. ‘We <3 Taylor’s music and think she’s awesome!’

The apology tweet came after Emma Worley, a fan from Herminie, Pennsylvania, launched a Change.org petition asking the retailer to ‘take away’ the T-shirt in question.

‘Because it’s hurtful to Taylor Swift and Swifties everywhere!’ read a description on the petition, which amassed 86 signatures.

Another ‘huge Swiftie’ named Chelsea Nicole took to YouTube to voice her ‘disgust’ at the offending garment.

In the clip, she calls Abercrombie’s public relations line to complain and displays the phone number on screen, encouraging others to do the same.

When it goes to voicemail, Chelsea leaves a message: ‘I think that this T-shirt was a huge waste of production,’ she says.

‘It is the most childish thing I have ever seen in my entire life. Taylor has over 20million Twitter followers, and there’s so many people that literally cannot stand Abercrombie & Fitch.

‘Honestly, I don’t even care that the T-shirt is out of production,’ she declares. ‘I will never shop at Abercrombie & Fitch again.

‘I hope your business falls to the ground,’ she adds.

‘You just lost a used-to-be customer and so many other customers around the world because of what you did write about our idol on your T-shirt.’

Other devotees took to Twitter to voice their support of the singer.

‘SORRY TAY COULDN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF HER SCREAMING FANS,’ wrote one.

And Swifties were unsurprisingly elated that their actions pushed the retailer to pull the shirt from stores.

One wrote proudly on her Twitter page: ‘Look at the power of Swifties,’ alongside a smiley face emoticon.

Miss Swift was in a relationship with One Direction’s Harry Styles earlier this year.

Last summer, she dated Robert Kennedy, Jr’s son Conor – four years her junior – for three months, following her very high-profile romance with Jake Gyllenhaal a year earlier.

WATCH: Taylor Swift fan responds to Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt