A UK department store has kick-started an anti-airbrushing campaign by releasing provocative before and after retouching pictures.
The images — which feature a lingerie model — have gone viral on social media, being shared more than 40,000 times in 24 hours.
One image shows the model in her natural state, another shows her marked up for retouching and the third shows the finished, drastically slimmed and unrealistic, image.
By the time the image was ready for publication the model’s face, neck and body had been slimmed, her teeth and eyes whitened, her cleavage enhanced, her skin colour altered and her legs made much thinner.
Department store Debenhams released the pictures as it announced its new ban on retouched lingerie model shots.
“As well as being a positive from a moral point of view, it ticks the economic boxes as well,” Sharon Webb, Head of Lingerie buying and design for Debenhams, said.
“Millions of pounds a year are spent by organisations retouching perfectly good images.
“As a rule we only airbrush minor things like pigmentation or stray hair and rely on the natural beauty of models to make our product look great.”
Debenhams has vowed to never use airbrushed lingerie models again and has urged other brands to ditch retouching too.
“We want other retailers to follow suit and encourage positive body image through minimal retouching rather than bombarding them with unattainable body images,” a spokesperson said.
Debenhams has previously worked with models with disabilities and size 16 mannequins in an attempt to promote inclusiveness.
The 2013 Positive Body Image Awards are open for nominations. To enter, visit the Positive Body Image Awards website. Nominations close on June 21, 2013.
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