H&M Lingerie Brand Celebrates Armpit Hair And Scars

HM‘s sister brand Other Stories has launched a campaign for its lingerie that celebrates real women with armpit hair and scars, refuting stereotypes of female perfection.

The brand’s For Women, By Women campaign was shot by female photographer Hedvig Jenning and features women who are not professional models, whose bodies are shown unretouched. The campaign is meant to counter the images of standardized beauty promoted by Victoria’s Secret, and is part of the larger movement toward body acceptance.

But are these photos really going to change attitudes?

One might argue that the prominent underarm hair is more of a ploy for publicity than a demand for acceptance. It seems likely to evoke horrified titters, and in fact is doing just that in media outlet like the Daily Mail.

It seems like every time a campaign professes to widen our concept of female beauty, it mostly serves to annoy women who rightly feel they’re being pandered to.

The Dove campaign that featured women of all sizes declaring their beauty ended up annoying everybody.

Plus-size retailer Lane Bryant did a good job with its #ImNoAngel lingerie project earlier this year. The ads featured gorgeous plus-sized models reveling in their curves, and I do mean curves rather than ‘fat.’

Women with scars, birthmarks and unusual body shapes are unlikely to sell lingerie or anything else, since they do nothing to entice women’s desire to look attractive and sexy.

We already know we have imperfections. We don’t want to see ourselves in ads, but father an idealized version of ourselves.

While Victoria’s Secret does screw up our confidence by featuring models with unattainable proportions, the socially aware campaigns touting ‘normalness’ still come off as gimmicks.

Maybe HM deserves credit for its efforts to be inclusive, but considering its more widespread use of models like Miranda Kerr and Gigi Hadid in its advertisements, we can’t help but question their sincerity.

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Debenhams report: mothers-in-law at the bottom of the Christmas present list

LONDON, 2015-12-21 — /EPR Retail News/ — Much maligned mothers-in-law can forget any festive cheer this Christmas after coming bottom of the present list.

Over half (51%) will be ignored by their son or daughter’s partner and will be lucky to get so much as a seasons’ greeting, according to a new report from Debenhams.

A further 21% of mothers-in-law will receive a token present costing under £20, the research on Christmas gift giving reveals.

Youngsters will be the biggest winners with an average £206 spent filling their sack from Santa while partners will have an average £163 spent on them.

Men are more generous than women when it comes to choosing a present for their other half, though they take a lesser role when helping with buying for everyone else. 50% of men will spend at least £75 on their partner compared with 30% of women.

One in five (19%) close friends and immediate relatives will also receive nothing though a further 50% will see up to £100 spent on them by generous gift-givers.

The report, which asked about present buying to highlight the High Street store’s Found It campaign showed that nearly everyone appreciates the thought behind a gift, rather than the cost or the frivolous luxury name. Practicality seems to be the name of the game with six out of ten people planning to give gifts that they know the receiver wants and two thirds (66%) will receive gifts they want or need.

Just 5% said they would like something luxurious and only 3% wanted to know what their gift cost.

Top of the Christmas wish list was vouchers, requested by four out of ten, indicating that people often like to choose their own present, followed by jewellery (35%) then clothing for women (30%) and books (28%) for men with electronic gadgetry (26%) coming a close third.

Ten per cent of women hoped to receive lingerie and 12% flowers.

A quarter of men (25%) wanted items of clothing and one in five (19%) are hoping for tech gifts. Cash was popular among 18 to 24 year olds, along with vouchers.

Regionally top of the gift-givers is surprisingly Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North East while the more prosperous London and the South East along with the North West and Wales will spent the least on presents.

Whatever the gift, the good news is that it is generally appreciated, though women do express more doubts than men with 7% expecting to be disappointed after opening their presents on the big day.

Christine Morgan from Debenhams said: “Getting a present right can be extremely tricky but its good to know that most people put some thought behind choosing a gift and try to get it right. We place great emphasis on helping customers pick the right gift for partners, family and friends, including the mother in law,regardless of how much they want to spend.”

To help shoppers find the perfect gift in stores, we have an army of over 100 personal shoppers who have become professional gift finders. Shoppers can book a free of charge 30 minute consultation to give details of their loved ones and their interests. Personal shoppers then seek out the ideal gift from the shop floor while customers relax.”

Survey of 2008 by Atomic Research dec 8-9th

Ends

CONTACTS
Tehreem Ashraf/tehreem.ashraf@debenhams.com

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