Emily Bajek, Katie Sun, Sanjna Sadarangani
Aerie is the subsidiary brand of parent company American Eagle Outfitters. It mainly focuses on different types of lingerie while American Eagle Outfitters doesn’t direct its focus to any one article of clothing. The two are closely linked and each of their websites advertises the other in that both websites showcase the products of both brands. American Eagle Outfitters has no interest in separating itself from its offspring company and refers to their customers as their “AE and Aerie family”. Regarding the recent news about COVID19, both websites put out the same message on their homepages that links to the same page.
American Eagle likes to be upfront about their business. They have an official website that aims attention at their corporation, rather than their products. This website displays news, media and press about their company as well as many other related aspects. One of the more relevant pieces on this website talked about how Aerie has been helping American Eagle Outfitters’ overall sales. Kelli Ell wrote, “The company’s bright spots continue to be the American Eagle jeans business and intimates brand Aerie. Aerie had its 21st consecutive quarter of double-digit sales growth with comps increasing 26 percent during the quarter. That’s on top of a 23 percent increase the same time last year” (Ell).
While American Eagle Outfitters prioritizes their advertising campaigns and promoting their positive image, they need to keep their businesses afloat. In order to do this, the corporation has created a special website meant for their investors. This public website keeps investors up to date on anything and everything dealing with American Eagle Outfitters and their subsidiaries. It houses a complete, comprehensive overview of recent news, finances / stock information, events / presentations, resources, and even names each corporate official high up in the company as well as their role. They also have all their annual reports and proxy statements on the website.
According to the information presented on this website, they are still doing well financially in the midst of this global pandemic which has taken a large toll on the American economy. Hopefully, they will pull through and be able to continue spreading inclusivity, body positivity and self love as they have been doing largely through Aerie.
When looking at the models on the Aerie website, it is clear that the brand is inclusive of all women. Not only do they have a racially diverse range of models, but these models embrace their natural beauty and the way that they express themselves, rather than being made to conform to standards of beauty that have been in the fashion industry for years. They have both lighter-skinned and darker-skinned black models, and many are seen with their natural hair. Often, the black models that brands feature in efforts to appear more racially inclusive are ones who are “accepted” as beautiful by white people, usually lighter-skinned, slim, and having straightened or loosely curled hair. Instead, Aerie’s models wear their hair without changing it to fit a certain look. Although details like hair may seem small, the increase of models with their natural hair in the fashion world challenges previous standards of beauty. In the past, many women of color would try to assimilate their outer looks in order to feel accepted or beautiful, by straightening their hair or using skin-lightening products. Some women still do this today, but Aerie’s choices in how they present their models showing women that they are beautiful the way they are and do not need to look a certain way to be beautiful.
Additionally, Aerie is racially inclusive in their plus-size modeling. The fashion industry has started to become more inclusive of plus-size models in recent years, but there is still progress to be made. Many of the most famous and in-demand plus-size models are white and their figures are curved in all of the ideal places. Some people in the plus-size community have spoken out about how many women of color have the same body shapes that these popular white plus-size models have, yet the white models are often more celebrated. This reflects how there are still issues in the fashion industry in terms of how “plus-size” is only accepted if the models look a certain way. Aerie’s plus-size models are racially diverse, sending a message that there is no “one type of beautiful” when it comes to plus-size women.
Aerie does not narrowly represent their models of color, and their campaigns confront the issues of inclusivity that still persist today in the fashion industry. Their choices in their models and how they authentically portray them celebrate the diverse beauty of women, instead of communicating that women must look a certain way to feel accepted or beautiful, as many other brands have been doing for years.
What initially started out as just an average lingerie brand has transcended into a collection of representation and inclusivity among women. The brand, Aerie, known for its “AerieReal” campaign and “Strong, Beautiful, Me” campaign to support NEDA, has succeeded in its natural body approach by promoting healthy, positive women for its products. Over the years, the Aerie clothing brand has altered its advertising approach to turn away from conventional female advertising, and more toward a unique application, to embrace the beauty of women through various body shapes and sizes.
Although the brand’s mechanisms of promoting self love and acceptance are exceptional, the one complication behind this campaign is the singular “girl” audience. The inclusion of transgender/nonbinary individuals is lacking in such an inclusive brand, which is quite surprising considering the normalities of our present day society. Such actions are vital to consider in this day and age, especially toward male-bodied individuals who identify as gender fluid, or for females who identify as male. Male individuals should also feel deserving of Aerie lingerie, but may feel uncomfortable or hesitant to purchase, since it isn’t necessarily promoted in its advertising. In addition, targeting lingerie advertisements towards female audiences is just supporting the perpetuation of socialized gender roles. Some males still feel ashamed to hold an Aerie bag, or Aerie product, without a quick justification for shopping for a girlfriend, or simply carrying the bag proudly in support of their identification.
Despite the limited consideration of transgender / nonbinary individuals, the brand itself is one of the best out there, in terms of inclusion and acceptance among women and other audiences. Considering the brand’s target audience, the company should continue to carefully consider underlying societal stereotypes still prevalent in its products and advertising, since the brand’s target age group is also quite young and continuing the process of self-discovery. Even the most accepting brands have a long way to go to achieve a maximal desire, but this is just a step in the right direction.
Fashion 