Aerie was one of the first brands to bring body positivity to the mainstream market, showcasing models of all shapes and sizes. Now the clothing retailers is continuing to promote this empowering message with its most diverse campaign yet.
Stars like Busy Philipps, Jameela Jamil and Samira Wiley are joined by gold medal Paralympian snowboarder Brenna Huckaby and creator Molly Burke as well as Aerie alumna Iskra Lawrence, Aly Raisman and Cleo Wade for the Aerie’s spring 2019 campaign.
“These amazing role models embrace the Aerie lifestyle and were chosen for their influential voices, unique stories and commitment to nurturing an inclusive, empowering community for Aerie women everyone,” said Aerie global brand president Jennifer Foyle.
The variety in ethnicity, sexuality and age further expands the #AerieREAL campaign that the brand launched in 2016 with Lawrence. And true to the inspirational Aerie message, every image is completely unfiltered.
“Aerie’s campaign showing unretouched women looking beautiful and empowered help me drive home the message of self-love and confidence that I bestow on my two daughters daily,” said Philipps in a statement from the brand
She isn’t the only one to express excitement over the partnership. Many of the women have spoken about how proud they are to be a part of it.
“I know in my life and in my career one of the things is to understand the platform that I have, and know that, whether I like it or not, I am a role model,” Wiley told Fashionista. “It’s my job to choose which kind of role model I’m going to be. I think one of the first steps of that right now is partnering with Aerie; that gives me some direction, because of the message that they’re pushing and the messages of the other women who are involved in the campaign are things that I really, really believe in.”
Jamil shared her enthusiasm on Twitter, writing, “So excited to announce that I am joining @Aerie as an #aerierolemodel and got to stand next to so many women I love and admire at our shoot. No retouching and inclusive of everyone.” However, many people were quick to point out that it lacked size inclusivity.
She quickly responded in a tweet that she shouldn’t have said everyone. “I want to delete this tweet so much,” she wrote. “But I would rather take the beating and have people learn from the mistake of the problematic use of the word so we can all learn to be more careful. I hope all fashion serves us better in the future.”
In the campaign’s accompanying video, the models urge women to find their super powers to use for good. Rattling off their own, some keep it simple like Raisman who says hers is strength and Wade who chooses love. Others look a bit deeper like Handmaid’s Tale actress Wiley who says hers is to “live her life authentically,” and Burke (who has been blind since 4) decides hers is to “see people for who they truly are.”
Seeing these eight role models join together to prove that there are so many different ways to be beautiful is one empowering message.
