Addition Elle is encouraging its plus-size customers to forget about the “rules” of wearing swimwear this summer.
The Reitmans-owned retailer has launched the #NoMoreRules digital campaign to promote its latest Cactus swimwear line. The campaign features 19-year-old model Barbie Ferreira, who’s known for her work with American Eagles’ Aerie lingerie brand.
In a video and lookbook for Addition Elle, Ferreira is shown breaking the so-called fashion rules plus-size women have been told over the years, such as no stripes, no bold patterns and no bikinis.
“We had seen Barbie Ferreira in the Aerie ‘no photoshop’ campaign and there’s something really young and fresh about her. She is very brazen and we thought she was the perfect personality to embrace the #NoMoreRules campaign,” said Roslyn Griner, VP of marketing and visual at Addition Elle. “We wanted to be a bit more playful and poke fun at all of these rules and say, ‘you can wear what you want and wear what you love.”
Griner said the idea for the campaign evolved from Addition Elle’s “Fashion Democracy” vision statement, which is about delivering stylish fashions that aren’t limited by size.
In the fashion world, “straight sizing” is all about breaking the rules and wearing what you want, explained Griner. “But in plus size, there have always been a lot of rules and preconceptions about what a plus-size woman should wear or shouldn’t wear, especially in swimwear where you’re basically at your most revealing.
“What we’ve seen over the last couple of years is how the plus-size community has really embraced their bodies and they’re feeling more confident.”
The #NoMoreRules campaign includes promoted posts on Facebook, influencer marketing, and a social media contest that invites people to post pictures of themselves and how they break the rules for the chance to win gift cards.
The video was created by Montreal-based Mookai and PR is being handled by Toronto-based Brill Communications.
