I am standing in a small study with dim light, following the soft instructions of a photographer who had never seen me before.I am dressed in a luxurious set of mesh and velvet linger.It is the most exposed that I have ever been in the company of strangers.I feel strangely uninhibited.
I swing to the rhythm of the music that sounds in the background, I point with my feet and smile.The photographer, Manon Ouimet, has a safe but not intimidating presence and addresses different poses and angles while he told me that I am "natural".
Of course, I am not.I have never worked as a model, nor the other three women waiting for their turn to be photographed for this lingerie campaign.
This is a “anti-short" photo shoot for the Undeargument lingerie brand.Designed by its founder, Maina Cisse, the "anti-capital" is essentially a blind casting, which allows it to promote their products through crowdsourcing models, asking women of all kinds to send, not a photograph of themselves,but a personal writing about your relationship with your body.
Cisse had the idea after being tired of seeing endless perfect models announcing lingerie that did not reflect any woman she knew.Their collections are designed for women to feel empowered, with names like "for identity/against stereotypes", "for sexy/against sexism" and "for love/against conformism".The Undeargument garments are not the typical fasteners and cotton pants: Cisse uses lace and meshes so delicate that they barely feel on the skin.The garments are well adjusted, without being nailed or pinch, and adapt to different body types with ease.
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The first time I saw the call of anti -rates was while I was traveling Ociously on Instagram one day of confinement.I followed the brand because I had already bought a set of The Undargument.The brand seeks that anyone who decides to share their story sends it, without required nothing more.Neither photos, nor measures nor experience as a model.
Intrigued and with nothing to lose, I sent my story and immediately forgot about it until last September, when I received an email with the title: "You are selected!".
The Coronavirus pandemic delayed the plans for the session until October 2021, when Cisse sent a call sheet that indicated the "models" where to go and that they went with a "very natural or without makeup" aspect ".Until that time, I had not yet asked me for a single photo of mine, only my measures so that Cisse could bring the appropriate sizes for filming.
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It was the opposite of everything I know of the modeling and fashion industry, a world full of flashes in which people are chosen precisely because of their appearance.
"Before it was so little stimulating with normal models," Cisse told me when we met with Zoom a week before the session.“We must not shade them, because it is a legitimate job.But knowing the stories of real people has been a privilege and a gift, and every time I make one of these shootings, butterflies enter me."
The idea of an anti-capital is especially inspiring at this time, due to how extended discrimination and infrarentation in the fashion industry are.In July, an All-Party Parliamentary Group for Textiles and Fashion (multi-party parliamentary group for the textile and fashion sector) revealed that almost 90% of the people surveyed considered that the images of the fashion industry did not representa spectrum of different bodies and identities, and 87.5% said they did not feel represented in advertising campaigns, fashion photo and catwalk sessions.
The report also revealed that 68% of people had experienced or witnessing discrimination in the fashion industry.Most part (73.4%) commented that it was based on body image, followed by ethnicity, age, disability, gender and religious expression.
As a woman from Southeast Asia, which barely measures 1.70 meters and has a size in the United Kingdom between 14 and 16, I know very well the frequency with which I see someone like me in a fashion ad, that is, never, never.
When I arrived at the photo shoot, it was clear that the other women photographed that same day, whose ages ranged between 20 and 60 years, felt the same.
Lou, 65, mentioned me during our session: “I rarely see old women who look like me modeling something.Even brands whose demographic group are older women have started using much younger models.It is demoralizing. Siento que es aún más importante que haga esta sesión, para representar a mujeres como yo".
This is the general message that Cisse and Ouimet want to send to the fashion industry: that there is value to put real people in their clothes, not only an idealized version of perfection that is unattainable for the vast majority. Ouimet me cuenta que antes se dedicaba a la fotografía de moda, pero que se sintió “frustrada" por las ideas de perfección de la industria.“The world around me is not perfect, it is not what is seen in fashion campaigns. Tenía un verdadero deseo de centrarme en la condición humana y sacar lo positivo de cada persona", detalló.
“When Main came to me with the idea of anti -aging, I was very open and anxious to do something like that.It is very strange as a photographer to have no idea how your subject will be, but it is a really beautiful challenge.It became very obvious and pertinent that it was not just about capturing underwear, but about the experience of women who went to the sessions."
In the postproduction very little edition is made, apart from adjusting the photographs in terms of color and light. Las imágenes resultantes representan la “belleza en bruto", sostuvo Cisse.“They are women who feel comfortable in their skin, who have powerful stories to tell how they have reached this point, and you see it through the photographs we take. Es casi mágico".
I wonder if there is space for this concept in the world of fashion in general.Olivia Igwe, a fashion -specialized trusted mentor, participated in the photo shoot against the casting last year.He said that there is space in the British fashion industry for this type of focus and believes that buyers would accept it. “Creo que la gente lo quiere ahora más que nunca".
IGWE pointed out the 2022 spring parade of the Alexander McQueen fashion house in London earlier this month, in which several women who were not professional models paraded, such as proof that the industry is willing to adopt the concept of using real peopleas models.
“Hizo que te centraras en el individuo", indicó entonces la directora creativa de Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton, a US Vogue.“It became a community of women, and how women are left.I made clothes for them as people [...] It is about treating each of them as an individual and enhancing their personality, and how they feel. Se trata de ser sensible".
Cisse is somewhat more skeptical.He is not sure that people are prepared to see so much diversity in fashion, even if they want it, because of the way in which beauty standards are so rooted in society.“I have hope, of course, that things like the photo session against the casting change the opinion of the people, and they may do so. Pero llevará tiempo, especialmente en el mundo de los estándares de belleza en el que vivimos ahora".
Look towards one of the other women who pose for Ouimet, with a big smile on the face. “Sin embargo, siento que estoy haciendo algo bien", afirmó. “Puede que me canse de organizar estas sesiones, pero cada vez que estoy aquí, siento que esto es lo que debo hacer".
CISSE also recognizes that anti-capital may not work for all brands.As a small independent brand, it does not pay the crowdsourcing models, but allows them to take home the lingerie sets that model in the sessions and provide them with travel expenses.
I went to the session feeling self -conscious and nervous, worried about several parts of me that I saw as physical defects: rolls in the belly, cellulite, jacket, hair too short and loose, stained skin.But I went with an adrenaline climb, as if he had just achieved something important.It was difficult for me to understand why, until I thought about how I would feel if I saw someone who resembles me on a lingerie website.
The inspiring thing that would be to be able to see exactly how a garment would be in my body, instead of having to guess and suffer an inevitable disappointment.And what is more important, I would feel that my body is worth seeing.
However, when I saw the images for the first time, I couldn't help feeling a little dejected.Somehow I had imagined that the photo shoot would make me look taller and more thin, so I felt disappointed when I faced the reality of my figure.I was so used to seeing impossiblely thin models announcing lingerie, that I couldn't appreciate myself.
But after reflecting for several days, what I see now is a young and healthy woman, happy and more comfortable with herself than I thought.And I feel especially proud to have participated in something in which other women like me will be reflected.
“Todos queremos vernos ahí, una representación de nosotros mismos, sentir que podemos conectar con la persona que estamos viendo", reiteró Ouimet."But this false sense of truth has instilled so much.It will be necessary to break it and that more women get involved in shootings like this. Todo el mundo debería participar".
