Words by Sian Irvine, photography courtesy of the brands mentioned below
In a world that thrives and profits from telling us that our bodies are imperfect, loving yourself is a rebellious act. Body Positivity is the radical idea that, no matter who we are, or what we look like, our bodies are precious and beautiful. They are, after all, the home we live in for our entire life.
Today we explore 5 brands who are actively embracing Body Positivity in their ethos and campaigns, and in doing so, proving to the world that every Body is beautiful.
- Missguided Back in August, customers of Missguided started noticing that they had quietly stopped photoshopping models’ stretch marks out of their photos. In doing so, they normalised something which is, in fact, normal- but for decades, women have been shamed for. Missguided have also shown a strong commitment to diversity in their models with their #KEEPONBEINGYOU campaign, which features plus sized, dark skinned and disabled models, in doing so proving that there is not a one size fits all when it comes to beauty.
- Stay Wild Swim Stay Wild Swim is a company with heart. Their aim is to create high quality, flattering swimwear for every woman- all of which is made from recycled ocean plastic. Friend of Ultravenus and body positivity/self love campaigner Natalie Amber recently modeled for Stay Wild Swim, proudly showing off the scar on her stomach that was a result of her Crohn’s, showing that pain makes us warriors, and we should be proud of our bodies, even if they do not conform to ‘normal’ beauty standards. Anything that rejects these societal standards along side saving the planet, is something we at Ultravenus can get behind 100%.
- Chromat In their latest S/S2020 runway at New York Fashion Week, Chromat proudly showed off their hugely diverse selection of models. With catwalk models historically being extremely thin, extremely white and extremely young, this was a bold move- but a fantastic one. We saw ethnicities and heritage from around the globe; long, short, cropped, curly, straight and afro hairstyles; and slim, thick and curvy body types. And the best part? All the girls on stage are clearly enjoying themselves, and allowing their personalities to shine.
- Zalando In it’s latest campaign, ‘Free to Be’, Zalando celebrates freedom of expression. Starring plus-sized model Felicity Hayward, Zalando’s campaign is another one that embraces diversity, using models from a wide range of ages, sizes and backgrounds.
- Jonesy NYC Their tag line is ‘you are anything but basic, so why should your underwear be?’ Another inclusive and body positive brand show us that simple can be sexy. The thing I love most about this brand: considering they are an underwear brand, they are not afraid to show hair in their photographs. I love this. I feel that being smooth and hairless has become so widely accepted as the ‘norm’, that we have come to feel ashamed about something that happens to all of us, and is completely natural. Yes to not being ashamed of our body hair.
