14 Dec Fashion retailers have ditched Photoshop to promote body positivity
(Pic: Stretch marks on hip. Credit: Emma Parker)
Missguided have joined ASOS in a bid to gain girls confidence by not airbrushing their models, reports Emma Parker
When a woman looks in the mirror, she can find different faults in herself that nobody else would even notice; some women completely avoid the mirror altogether. Weight, height, blemishes, facial features, body features and one of the biggest insecurities: stretch marks. Otherwise known as striae distensae, stretch marks affect both men and women. Nevertheless, this common skin condition isn’t openly accepted in the media world – until now.
In their Summer 2017 campaign, ASOS decided to stop airbrushing the model’s images in a bid to show that blemished skin is actually normal and should be more accepted. The movement gained immense support and praise over social media, and it seemed to make fashion retailer Missguided follow suit. Models on the site are now seen completely unfiltered and so their stretch marks are entirely prominent, much to 19 year old Arina Banova’s pleasure.
A big fan of Missguided, she was one of the 70% of teenage girls who developed this kind of skin condition during puberty, and has always been afraid to achieve her ambitions of being a model ever since. Growing up, she has always been accustomed to the sight of flawless bodies of women in the media.
Banova told me: “it’s quite disheartening to see these false expectations of bodies in the media especially because they are just completely unjust. I’ve always wanted to be a model; being slim and quite tall for my age meant it had always been an option for me but my stretch marks have always held me back”.
Banova’s stretch marks appeared in her teenage years through an apparent growth spurt and admitted she was both distraught and embarrassed by them, which is why she was always too scared to apply for modelling jobs. “Now I’ve seen Missguided openly accept stretch marks it not only has given me a new found confidence, but actually encouraged me to pursue a modelling career” Banova went on to say.
If money wasn’t a problem, Banova would have considered stretch mark removal. Clinic’s all over the country offer a treatment for both men and woman to reduce the look of stretchmarks, which depending on the size of the area can cost between £100 – £250. Arike Idris, a practitioner at Pulse Light Clinic in London said: “the amount of client that we have for stretch marks have been consistent, as we have two type of treatment for it (micro-needling or the icon laser)”. Both treatments involve encouraging the healing process of the skin, as stretch marks are effectively scar tissue. However, Idris made it clear to state: “gaining weight isn’t the sole factor of stretch marks, stretch marks can occur in slender women as well”.
As Missguided claims on their website: “our mission is to empower females globally to be confident in themselves and be who they want to be”, which comes to no surprise as to why the popular online fashion retailer now features these natural unedited images. Banova is sure to be just one of many that’s confidence will get boosted from all over the country, because if the media is starting to accept “normal” girls hopefully the whole world will. But for now, TopShop, BooHoo, Pretty Little Thing – we’re counting on you.
