While flipping through a magazine the other day, an advertisement, in which Gigi Hadid starred, caught my eye. In the ad, Hadid sits, wearing nothing but shoes, and everything about her is absolutely flawless. Her silky, blonde hair is flowing beautifully. Besides a few freckles here and there, her skin is without any blemishes such as acne or cellulite. When I was younger, I used to fret over these commercials, as I looked down at my own body and wondered, "Why don't I look like her?" Now, it is almost as if I am numb to it.
For as long as I can remember, the fashion industry has promoted a beauty standard that is unrealistic for women.
Company after company features the same size zero models in their ads, retouching them to rid them of all of their "flaws." Sometimes I wonder how the people creating these ads don't know or care about the impact they're making in girls' lives. The harmful standards that they create cause beautiful, worthy women with skin blemishes and/or a larger size to feel ashamed to wear what they want. How is that fair?
Yet, one badass brand, Chromat, released "new pool rules" in order to fight these ridiculous standards, which includes "food shaming not permitted" and "scars and stretch marks welcome." The ad campaign also includes models of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds. It is by far one of the most positive campaigns I have ever seen, by including so many women and by showing off what makes them unique.
The campaign inspired me by using models including Denise Bidot, posing unapologetically as they show off their cellulite, scars, and stretch marks. They embrace what the fashion industry has marked off as "flaws" instead of hiding from them. The brand promotes fashion for women of all ages, sizes, sexualities, and abilities and provides all women with a chance to look fierce as hell in their many stunning bathing suits. Thus, changing the game in fashion by turning flaws into strengths.
Although we still have a lot of progress to make, some brands, like Chromat, are taking huge strides in the right direction by promoting self-love and fashion of all women no matter their size. Even though we see commercials, advertisements, and social media posts that shy away from accepting flaws as strengths, it is important to remember to love yourself and embrace your size and your cellulite. We all have imperfections, but that is okay because they are what make us who we are. Whether you are a size 0 or a size 14, your body is yours, and you should love it!
