DUBAI: British actress Jameela Jamil has just been announced as one of the newest members of a body positivity campaign by American Eagle Outfitters’ sub-brand, Aerie.
“The Good Place” star, who was born to a Pakistani mother and an Indian father in London, has long taken a very outspoken stance against photoshopping and airbrushing in the fashion and entertainment industries and was just picked up by Aerie to star in their Spring 2019 campaign, dubbed the #AerieREAL movement.
The campaign, which was launched in 2014 when model Iskra Lawrence was named as face of the brand, unveiled a new clutch of “#AerieREAL Role Models” late last
week.
Actresses Busy Philipps, Jamil and Samira Wiley, as well as gold medal Paralympian snowboarder Brenna Huckaby and YouTube star Molly Burke, have joined the campaign.
“So excited to announce that I am an #aerierolemodel and got to stand next to so many women I love and admire at our completely un-retouched shoot!” Jamil posted on Instagram regarding the announcement. “@Aerie is the first company I have seen dedicate so much energy to inclusion and representation on their website and in their stores and that is something I myself am constantly fighting for,” she added.
Jamil is no stranger to promoting body positivity in the harsh world of Hollywood and founded the “I Weigh” movement in 2018 by launching an Instagram account where she shares inspiring images sent in by followers detailing their accomplishments and positive characteristics, rather than what they weigh.
“@i_weigh is a LIFE positive movement and this campaign reflects exactly that. People of different shapes and sizes coming together as we are to celebrate each other,” Jamil said in relation to the Aerie campaign.
She also released a statement on the brand’s website, saying she has learned to value herself based on her characteristics, rather than her physical attributes — a major step for the star who suffered an eating disorder in her teenage years.
“It’s not that I’m starting to love everything about myself. I’m starting to not care about the things that don’t matter and I do care about the things that do matter, like what kind of a friend I am, what kind of a colleague I am, what I am contributing to the world and society and how I make other people around me feel,” Jamil said in the released statement.
