#WTFLaneBryant: Is the I’m No Angel Campaign a Joke?
Earlier this year, Victoria’s Secret came under fire for their advertisements that had “The Perfect Body” plastered on photos of slim VS Angels to promote their new line. In response, plus-size clothing retailer Lane Bryant launched their “I’m No Angel” campaign to showcase their Cacique lingerie brand. Their mission? To show that “sexy comes in many shapes and sizes” and to redefine society’s traditional notion of sexy. The movement blew up on social media, and thousands of women used it as a platform to share their own version of sexy on social media with the hashtag #ImNoAngel.
You can watch their promo for the #ImNoAngel campaign below.
I love brands that go against the backwards norm of labelling one body type “perfect,” and applauded Lane Bryant in April when they took a stand against the perpetuation of body ideals.
So, you can imagine my disappointment when I walked in to the store last week and saw the words “Perfect Waist” on corsets being sold, with slim women flaunting their flat stomach (like, what are you even using the corset for anyway?!) on the packaging.
Am I surprised that this is the way the particular manufacturer decided to market their corset? No, not at all. Am I surprised that it was being sold at Lane Bryant, a seemingly body positive store that supposedly wants to foster body confidence in their customers? Yes.
“Perfect Waist” and “Sensuality” paired on the box literally represents everything the #ImNoAngel campaign was against: that you have to be slim or have a certain body type to be sexy. So what gives, Lane Bryant? After snapping these pictures, I decided to bring it up with the sales associate at the register:
Me: Selling corsets at the counter is a little ironic considering the I’m No Angel campaign, no?
Sales Associate: Yeah, well I think we’ve been selling them them since before the campaign.
Not sure if that makes it better or worse, but either way, it gives me a little less faith in the store in terms of actually fostering a progressive dialogue about body confidence versus doing what’s going to make them money.
Frankly, it just pisses me off. After shopping at one of the few stores that offer fashionable clothing in larger sizes, why should someone be met with this image taunting them as they check out? Body positivity has been a hot topic this year, which is awesome. We’re slowly seeing more representation in media with help from women like Tess Holliday and Ashley Graham, and campaigns like #ImNoAngel have shown solidarity in the support of women everywhere who finally feel like they don’t have to hide because of their size. Unfortunately though, there is still so much prejudice toward people who don’t fit the beauty ideal, and something as small as this does matter. It’s just one more reminder that society isn’t as accepting as we need it to be.
I’m going to try to get answers from the brand using the hashtag #WTFLaneBryant. I encourage you to also use it to show them that if a brand claims they support sexiness at any size, they should follow through and represent that wholly as a retailer.
Update 12/18 1:25 PM
After reaching out to the store on Twitter, we had this exchange:
@SlashedBeauty Hi Miranda – We're not throwing shade, we're throwing curves. Everyone is perfect as they are and should be celebrated.
— Lane Bryant (@lanebryant) December 18, 2015
@SlashedBeauty Thanks for the follow-up Miranda, the corset you're referring to is a 3rd party brand that I don't have info. for. Please …
— Lane Bryant (@lanebryant) December 18, 2015
@SlashedBeauty …feel free to reach out to our customer service team for info. https://t.co/wuJFRgFqMr
— Lane Bryant (@lanebryant) December 18, 2015
I went ahead and wrote customer service with the same concerns I expressed in this post, and they wrote:
Dear Miranda,
Thank you for taking the time to contact us.
It is much appreciated when a valued customer provides us with feedback as it allows Lane Bryant to provide the best possible merchandise and service to our customers. Please know I am sending your comments to our merchandise team so they can take your feedback into consideration when making decisions about future product lines.
Thank you for contacting Lane Bryant.
Sincerely,
Lane Bryant Customer Service
Nice canned response, LB.
What do you think of this contradiction? Do you think Lane Bryant should have pulled these from their stores to support their stance on body positivity?
LB definately should’ve taken those Waist slimmers from their stores! Things like this are just another example of the hypocratic nature of people. Everyone has their own ideas of “Perfection” and I’ve found that they aren’t really the same cause,as we all know, “Art is in the eye of the beholder” which is fine, but once you voice (or in this case start a movement ) what you believe or where you stand on a topic you’ve got to back it up and stick by it! Otherwise you’re just speaking words that hold no value and making judgements against the other party when really you have no place to. By selling that in their stores, that movement doesn’t hold any value ( at least it doesn’t to me ) because they’re promoting the same thing VS is
The only difference between LB and VS is that VS is being honest.
Aren’t they owned by The Gap Co.?
Of this I’m unsure!
I stopped shopping there a few years ago. After they got sold, the quality went down the toilet. I had clothes fall apart on the first wear, and more on the first washing. I think the new company is just concerned with making money. (Edited to fix errors.)
It really is a shame!
Thanks for updating us on LB’s responses.