Diversify Your Shopping Cart
Many shoppers today are aware of the need for diversity in the fashion industry but don’t know what companies to turn to in order to support this movement. For so long, the industry has conformed to a narrow view of diversity. Different races, genders, and body types found it difficult to be able to visualize themselves being a customer of the brand due to this lack of diversity within the company’s values. Whether you are a fashion enthusiast or just trying to shop for a new year’s wardrobe, it can be challenging to know where to place your loyalty when shopping.
At FAST, we believe that as lovers of fashion, we must push our industry to be more diverse: from the workers stocking the shelves to the models wearing the designs to the sizes provided for customers. Every race, size, body type, age, and gender should be able to visualize themselves wearing a brand and feel celebrated by it. In the spirit of FAST’s diversity theme for the winter quarter, we have curated a list of five fashion brands that do so. By directing traffic towards brands that support these values, we can push the fashion industry to become a place that makes everyone feel welcome.
Starting off, The Girlfriend Collective is a great brand to turn to if you want to find some new brands that support diversity. Based out of Seattle, this activewear brand has established its unique place in the activewear industry. Distinguishing itself from athletic wear companies like LuLuLemon and Aloe, The Girlfriend Collective invites all ethnicities and body types to feel confident in their activewear. Their sizes range from XXS through 6XL, allowing every body size and shape to enjoy their product. They even have a Maternity line!
In addition, the models representing the brand vary in age, ethnicity, and body type. The Girlfriend Collective recognizes the importance of feeling confident in your activewear, and they want every age, body type, and ethnicity to be able to possess this confidence. Their activewear encourages customers to celebrate their individuality and feel confident in their skin. As an added bonus, by supporting The Girlfriend Collective, you will also be supporting sustainability in the fashion industry; some of their lines are made from discarded plastic that would otherwise be polluting our oceans. At
FAST, we believe it is necessary to hold the fashion industry to the morals and standards that we value in our everyday lives and know that The Girlfriend Collective is a brand you won’t feel guilty shopping from.
The Girlfriend Collective
For Love & Lemons is a female-founded and women-led clothing brand based in Los Angeles that produces ready-to-wear, lingerie, knitwear, swimwear, and leisurewear. For Love & Lemons is dedicated to trendsetting while upholding their principles of inclusion and diversity. For Love & Lemons practices diversity and inclusion in their clothing options and the workplace. For Love & Lemons offers a size range of XS to 3XL, and their collaboration with Victoria’s Secret includes plus-size bras. Their site and social media feature a diverse modeling cohort mirrored by their internal team. The ethnic background breakdown of their 29-person team is 45% White, 24% Hispanic, 24% Asian, 3% Pacific Islander, and 3% African Caribbean.
For Love & Lemons is committed to diversifying their team by proactively recruiting and hiring more people of color. Furthermore, the brand’s collaborations with other companies and freelance creators, such as hair and makeup stylists, videographers, and photographers, reflect the diverse community For Love & Lemons wants to uplift.
In 2020, For Love & Lemons also incorporated sustainability into their company goals. As part of their mission to promote sustainability, For Love & Lemons opts for digital printing over screen printing, organic linen over cotton, uses recycled polyester, and has partnered with Cloverly to purchase renewable energy offsets to counteract the carbon emissions produced by online orders. In Spring 2021, For Love & Lemons also launched a new collection, Sustainability is Beautiful, which showcases pieces that are designed with up to 100% recyclable materials.
For Love & Lemons
Savage X Fenty is a lingerie brand founded in 2018 by singer Rihanna. From the beginning, Savage X Fenty has aimed to break barriers within the lingerie industry. Savage X Fenty tackles diversity by promoting inclusivity in size, age, and gender on their website and runway shows.
Savage X Fenty sells bras in sizes ranging from 30A to 46DDD and underwear from XS to 3X. This size inclusivity has been transformative in the lingerie industry because other brands have failed in the past to offer such a wide range of sizes.
These inclusivity efforts are not just lip service. The brand’s fashion shows feature plus-sized, older, and disabled models of all genders. Savage X Fenty believes that anyone and everyone can rock lingerie and deserves to feel confident in their body. In the runway shows, Savage X Fenty lingerie has featured models in their 20s and 50s. Rihanna believes a person of any age can wear lingerie; it is up to the consumer to decide whether or not they want to wear lingerie, not the company!
Rihanna includes male models (of all sizes) in her runway shows to market the men’s underwear that Savage X Fenty sells and show that every type of man can wear it. In recent years, female body inclusivity has become more talked about and normalized, but male body standards still seem outdated. This needs to change and will continue to change with efforts made like that of Savage X Fenty.
Savage X Fenty believes that feeling confident and comfortable in your skin is something that every person deserves to feel; size, age, or gender should not take this away from you! In three years, Savage X Fenty has transformed the lingerie world and will only continue to do so.
Savage X Fenty
Rare Beauty was launched in summer 2020 as a cosmetic company by actress and singer Selena Gomez. The name “Rare Beauty” references Gomez’s album “Rare,” in which she expresses her struggles with depression, anxiety, and undergoing a kidney transplant. As a result, Rare Beauty celebrates self-love and empowerment for all. The brand aims to support well-being across all ages, gender identities, sexual orientations, races, cultural backgrounds, physical and mental abilities, and perspectives.
The makeup line encourages women to embrace their individuality through 48 shades of foundation and concealer. Rare uses real-life people in the campaigns to help promote this message. Gomez hopes that Rare can make anyone “feel beautiful exactly how they are.” In addition, Rare donates 1% of annual sales to the Rare Impact Fund, which supports mental well-being and several other philanthropic partners, focusing on underserved communities. In
November 2020, Rare partnered with Black Girl Ventures to host a pitch competition for Black and Brown women-identifying founders the opportunity to gain capital and distribution at Ulta Beauty. Rare has helped many through philanthropy and helped countless find comfort in their own skin. After all, “we are each rare in our own way.”
Rare Beauty
ThirdLove is a champion in diversity and inclusivity in the Lingerie space. Founder Heidi Zak was inspired to found ThirdLove in 2014 because of her struggles in finding comfortable and beautiful bras. She didn’t want women to have to choose between comfort and beauty. They started unconventionally by asking 100 women on craigslist to take photos in a tight tank top and bra. They used this data to create product prototypes and develop an app where women could calculate their bra size. They are best known for their half-cup sizes because their research showed that some women don’t fit into the already available sizes. Currently, ThirdLove has eighty bra sizes available on their website.
ThirdLove is well known for their open letter to Victoria’s Secret, printed in the New York Times. Their letter responded to the then CEO of Victoria’s Secret’s comment that trans people would never be included in their annual fashion show. In the letter, they called themselves the antithesis of Victoria’s Secret and wrote, “We’re done with pretending certain sizes don’t exist or aren’t important enough to serve. And please stop insisting that inclusivity is a trend.” In the days leading up to the Victoria’s Secret show, ThirdLove gave a free bra to anyone who posted their petition to boycott the event.
ThirdLove also claims to be the largest donor of undergarments in the US. So far, they have donated over 40 million dollars worth of products and upcycle those that cannot be donated. ThirdLove is committed to making products that make every woman feel good, confident, and comfortable. They do more than making lingerie; they fight for what they believe in and empower people in the process.
ThirdLove
Nicole Alexander, Lea Chinn, Kristi Le, Anna Lockhart, and Sarah Michel