Aerie is responding to the latest wave of shapewear we have seen emerge within the intimates market (because of some big-name backers) with a brand new class billed as “anti-shapewear.”
On Thursday, the corporate introduced the launch of Smoothez, a wide-ranging assortment of first-layer items meant to be worn on their very own or as a second pores and skin beneath garments. There’s underwear, bike shorts, leggings and tops constructed from gentle mesh, delicate microfiber and lace-blend materials in daring colours and neutrals alike, priced from $13 to $50, in sizes XXS to XXL and 32A to 40DD for bras.
“Why we name it anti-shapewear is as a result of it would not suck you in, it would not squeeze you, it would not change the form; it simply enhances and makes you’re feeling actually good,” says Stacey McCormick, Aerie’s Senior Vice President of Model Advertising and marketing. “It is a totally different tackle that very uncomfortable world of shapewear that we have grown to put on and put ourselves by means of.”
Picture: Courtesy of Aerie
The Smoothez idea may be traced again to Aerie’s launch of Actual Free in 2020, which promised “garments that really feel even higher than sporting nothing.”
“Smoothez turned an extension of that, in a manner,” says Andrea Jagaric, chief design officer for Aerie, Offline and Unsubscribed, including, “We by no means approached it as shapewear.”
Just like the title suggests, Smoothez “is product that enhances that first-layer smoothness that you really want in an undergarment, particularly if you are going to put on all of it day, on a regular basis,” in accordance with McCormick, that additionally fills a void that Aerie had in its assortment — for increased waists, bike shorts meant to be worn beneath garments, crop tops for layering. There’s additionally a brand new bra known as Bra-ish, which marries the assist of an underwire bra with the consolation of a bralette and borrows from the innovation Actual Free delivered to the road.
“Our Actual Free full-coverage bra has the identical know-how because the Bra-ish, however Bra-ish eradicated the wire. It has that very same floating cup inside, and the identical wing, which eliminates elastic,” says Jagaric. The primary distinction is that, general, the Smoothez merchandise are “lighter and extra comfy on physique” — which is what the Aerie buyer asks for just about continuously.
“Inspiration for product comes from our group — what we hear from them, what they ask for, what they might need, what they need extra of,” says McCormick. “Backside line, on a regular basis, is simply consolation first — one thing they will dwell in and really feel good in all day lengthy. We do not actually create something that is the antithesis of that.”
Picture: Courtesy of Aerie
The launch marketing campaign for Smoothez incorporates a conventional lookbook in addition to key movie star amplification on social media from Danielle Brooks, Alexandra Daddario and Kelsea Ballerini. The aim is to focus on the consolation and flexibility the gathering affords, two qualities that Aerie prides itself on.
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“I might say perhaps 50 weeks out, if not even additional, [we] actually begin to idea what we wish to do for the {industry} and what we wish to do to make change in our product, and luxury is the primary factor that we do,” says McCormick. “[Smoothez] is a really comfort-driven program that offers you among the properties that individuals are on the lookout for in terms of shapewear, nevertheless it’s not shapewear. It is providing you with the sense of feeling like your self whenever you put on it. It is not altering you.”
Picture: Courtesy of Aerie
Jagaric argues that Smoothez is the fruits of a decade-long, industry-wide evolution: “I have been with the model for 10 years, and the final 10 years, we have been all about celebrating our our bodies… We began the place we had been; slowly we developed into Actual Free intimates; now, it is all about motion. It was an evolution primarily based on what is going on on within the {industry}, primarily based on what our group is telling us and primarily based on what we consider in.”
The Aerie buyer, Jagaric continues, has all the time requested for consolation, however even that has modified as of late. “She needs to be much more comfy than she was [in] what we provided 5 or 10 years in the past,” she says. “Additionally, there’s an {industry} pattern of not having so many pushup bras and even wires. That has been additionally prime of thoughts — how will we win on this class and be sure that we’re giving her what she needs?”
As market demand has grown for intimates that transcend the standard bras-and-panties, new approaches to shapewear — with extra expansive sizing and campaigns that emphasize inclusivity — appear to be a increasingly more common response.
“We started as an intimates model in 2006, with bras and lingerie. We launched Actual in 2014, we stopped utilizing [retouching] in our advertising and our model started to develop and develop… However on the root of it, our prospects be taught to know us from intimates,” says McCormick. “We get actually enthusiastic about Smoothez as a result of it is actually rooted in our DNA: It is comfy, it is revolutionary, it is second pores and skin, it makes you’re feeling actual, it makes you’re feeling your self. It goes again and delivers to that market that is actually helped to develop us.”
Picture: Courtesy of Aerie
Past appeasing present prospects, Aerie hopes that launches like Smoothez and campaigns like Aerie Actual will assist it attain a brand new viewers, and their {dollars}.
“We nonetheless haven’t got the model consciousness on the market that we may have. Our aim day by day is to succeed in as many new prospects and to encourage these new individuals becoming a member of social media who want to be ok with themselves,” says McCormick. “We wish them to discover a model the place they will have a protected place to buy, the place they really feel like they see themselves and that they are heard. What motivates us every day is pushing by means of and reaching these new audiences that will not find out about us, but in addition celebrating these inside our viewers which have been with us, which are actual, and to proceed to push the message. We wish to be very according to what we do.”