Aerie, targeted at teenage girls, goes airbrushing and model-free in their latest campaign.

That’s one small step for women in media, a giant leap for advertising:

aerie, American Eagle’s sister store for lingerie, has launched aerie Real, a Spring 2014 ad campaign featuring all unairbrushed models. In a release on Friday, aerie announced that the ads are “challenging supermodel standards by featuring unretouched models in their latest collection of bras, undies and apparel.”

…aimed at the 15-21 year old demographic, meaning young women in high school and college. And it’s widely held — and proven by numerous studies and surveys — that young women’s sense of body confidence is so often influenced by the images of female beauty they see in media.

One ad campaign won’t solve the complicated relationship between young women’s self-esteems and images of women in media. But when a brand beloved by teen girls shows off its cute bras and undies on bodies with real rolls, lines and curves, it can certainly help.

A campaign aimed at teen girls: “Women shopping online can now see a model with similar body type and bra size…we’re hoping that women begin to embrace their own beauty.”

Video:

Relephant:

The Truth Behind Photoshop. {Video}

Model of the Photoshop Editing Video Speaks Up about Unrealistic Transformation. {Video}

I Don’t Look Like Kate Moss (& Neither Do These Models).

Love elephant and want to go steady?

Sign up for our (curated) daily and weekly newsletters!