In a world where fashion often makes real-life women feel overweight or unattractive, Aerie models are a true inspiration. This body-positive company strives to provide its customers with examples of honest, true-to-life beauty. Thankfully, their ultra-real models have proven the fact that beauty isn't limited to one body type, race, or look.
Image via ae.com
The Start of This Campaign
Aerie has been a long-time proponent of a body-positive attitude and making women feel better about themselves. This belief includes embracing the world of modeling. They have focused on using Photoshop-free ads and the implementation of the "Share Your Spark" campaign. This advertising concept focuses on using real-world women to showcase beauty in a whole new way.
Don't think that Aerie models are being used to shame thin women. Their models include short, tall, heavy, and thin women. The shape and size of a woman doesn't matter, they say, as long as she is happy, feels beautiful, and lives a wonderful life.
Image via elle.com
Real-World Women
While Aerie models have long used the real-world experience of women to inspire new looks, this campaign is something else entirely. Rather than drawing on professional regular or plus-sized models for their campaign, they pulled together a variety of women from the company's own staff and customer base to highlight their clothing. Most of the women used had never been involved in a photo shoot before.
Image via elle.com
The theme of the shoot was to "fall in love with yourself", and it's definitely showcased by the women in this campaign. They showed off their beautiful but healthy bodies and seemed excited to be part of the shoot. The 40 women featured in the shoot came from the Aerie staff office but also included Aerie customers, professional fashion bloggers, and even designers.
The idea here was to create a gorgeous shoot that made real women feel proud of their bodies. While we know that there are women who have the shape of supermodels, most women do not. By celebrating the majority of women who don't rock a size zero, Aerie is creating a positive and inspiring experience for more women.
Image via @Iskra
Plus-Sized Models
Another incredible thing about Aerie and its use of real-life models is its dedication to plus-sized models. In a world where most women are now plus-sized, the brand's decision to showcase the beauty of these women is inspiring and noble. In fact, they have made Iskra Lawrence, now recognized as one of the most beautiful plus-sized models in the world, into the face of their brand.
It's hard to imagine any other beauty company doing the same thing -- or at least it used to be hard to believe. With Aerie's inspiring example, it is easy to see the potential for other companies to follow their lead. If this is the case, we may see even more realistic and gorgeous celebrations of natural beauty than just the Aerie models. Personally, we can't wait for it happen.
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