Summersalt is flipping the conventional marketing definitions of what the perfect beach body is and how it’s represented in advertising.
The swimwear and apparel brand’s current campaign not only arrives in time for summer, it reflects consumers’ expectations that reject narrow standards of beauty. It’s no longer unusual to see plus-size models and all ethnicities gracing the pages of women’s clothing catalogues and ecommerce sites. And brands have certainly come a long way with size inclusivity since Lululemon’s former CEO told a reporter that their leggings weren’t made for plus-size women.
Now, Summersalt, the direct-to-consumer women’s label, is taking inclusivity in advertising to a new level. Its first brand campaign was launched last month and features 24 women that reinvent the traditional model.
There are several plus-size models who appear prominently in the Summersalt ads. But the creative goes beyond size to spotlight an expansive range of physical types not often celebrated in active poses meant to attract swimsuit purchases.
There is a mom breastfeeding her infant daughter. The ads also star a Black, transgender woman as well as a double amputee wearing golden prosthetic legs. Two 70-somethings are featured along with a gold medal-winning Special Olympics gymnast. There is a woman with the skin condition vitiligo and another with the autoimmune disease psoriasis. The campaign is rounded out with professional soccer players and women from a wide variety of ethnicities.
“We really wanted this campaign to exude that sense of love, joy, confidence and acceptance,” Reshma Chattaram Chamberlin, Summersalt’s co-founder, told Adweek. “We’re reclaiming the narrative and being sexy on our own terms.”
Being direct
Summersalt is the latest fashion brand to center inclusivity in its advertising. It joins a growing number of brands dedicating themselves to depicting fuller conception of women’s identities such as Good American, Chromat and Universal Standard. Athleta, the women’s athleisure brand, launched a campaign recently, called “Lead With Your Legs,” which features a woman with a prosthetic leg.
Most of those brands are founded or led by women. They also tend to be direct-to-consumer, which often fosters a more authentic, almost activist creative approach in order to appeal to people on an individual level. These brands and their marketing messages are propelled by social media likes, hashtags and a diverse population of influencers.
“The smaller female-founded brands are the ones to be brave in this way, to be about everyone in their advertising, and be a brand that’s made for all,” Jennifer DaSilva, president of the creative agency Berlin Cameron, told Adweek. “These brands are starting with inclusivity at their core. And we’re seeing a lot more of the big stores as well as brands follow suit.”
A new women’s movement—and new rules
DaSilva pointed to Chromat, the swimwear label started by architect Becca McCharen-Tran in 2010. McCharen-Tran was plus-size when she started making swimwear for herself and friends after work. She didn’t have a big ad budget and “begged friends” to model.
“What you saw [on the runway and in campaigns] was a reflection of my community,” McCharen-Tran told Adweek. “I didn’t start Chromat with a mission to change what you see in the fashion industry or in modeling agencies. These are my friends; I was a part of the queer community, the plus size community and that’s what I was inspired by. It was very organic.”
It turned into a movement. In 2018, Chromat launched the brand campaign “Pool Rules: Intolerance Not Tolerated, Body Policing Prohibited, Scars and Stretch Marks Welcome, All Abilities Accepted, Food-Shaming Not Permitted, Body Hair Appreciated, Celebrate Cellulite, No Age Restrictions, Respect Preferred Pronouns, and Unrestricted LGBTQ+ PDA.”
Like Summersalt’s campaign, the models ran the gamut in terms of age, physical ability, size, color and diversity. It was good for business. Sales increased 35% year-over-year following the campaign’s launch.
“As the stats show, consumers are responding to inclusive marketing, particularly in athletic apparel, swimwear and underwear brands. It leads to response rate increases of 30% to 35%,” said Ben Speight, an evp at the performance marketing agency Lockard & Wechsler Direct.
“A major opportunity is being missed if apparel brands of any kind are not actively working toward showcasing how their products fit bodies of all shapes and sizes,” he said.
Social media flips the marketing script
To meet demand, boutique management agencies like Kev Management, that specialize in models that “defy mainstream beauty standards” are popping up. Perhaps the most significant sign of the changing times is Creative Artists Agency, the major Hollywood management firm’s creation of a fashion department. They recently hired Gilleon Smith-Mercado as an agent with the mission, to promote “dynamic talent.”
“It’s a new day,” Mercado-Smith told Adweek.
Mercado-Smith, the former casting director for Chromat, points to social media as a driving force.
“Social media, like TikTok and Instagram, is changing marketing,” she said. “It’s really flipped how fashion approaches marketing. Now everyone has a voice. Everyone has the ability to weigh in.”
That’s exactly what Katie Sturino did. She started with a blog, The 12ish Style, modeling looks that replicate the outfits of thin celebrities for plus size women. The turning point came in a dressing room trying on a Diane von Furstenberg skirt labeled a size 12—her size at the time—that wouldn’t zip. She took a picture and hashtagged it “make my size.”
Conversations instead of ‘calling out’
Sturino still recreates looks for her nearly 600,000 followers on Instagram under #SuperSizeTheLook and lists the brands and sizes of the items she’s wearing. A recent post featured her replicating actress Gabrielle Union-Wade’s ensemble saying under the image, “It’s never about who wore it better, that mindset just keeps us down!”
“It’s really important that we don’t call brands out, but we make them aware and have conversations with them,” Sturino, whose book Body Talk came out in May, told Adweek. “More people are voting with their dollars. And if you’re someone who likes inclusion, then seeing a brand campaign like this, you can support it by buying one of their cute suits.”
Good American is a brand Sturino features often. When it started in 2016 with jeans, it stood out because it allowed visitors to its ecommerce site to view clothes on models with three very different body types. Now, all its jean sizes are modeled. Those models featured in its campaigns come from open casting calls, since their goal is to showcase all types of women.
Plus-size dollars
Early on, CEO Emma Grede and her team made it clear that their plus-size inventory would back up the images consumers saw online. Any wholesaler who wants to buy the collection has to buy it in its entirety—sizes 00-32—or nothing.
“We’ve literally said goodbye to seven-figure orders because specific retailers didn’t believe they had the customer,” Grede said. “There’s this idea that the plus-size customer isn’t as willing to spend. I found that to be completely inaccurate. We found a lot of really interesting data around the plus-size customer. She’s way more loyal. She comes back more often. Her average order value is much higher. And when she finds a brand she loves, she’s fiercely loyal.”
That’s how Summersalt was able to build its reputation as a brand for all women. Co-founder Lori Coulter worked in fashion previously. She launched the company with 1.5 million body measurements from digitally scanning 10,000 women. The results informed their designs to create bathing suits that fit virtually every body type in sizes zero to 24.
“Having a size 12 girl is no longer revolutionary, or even considered truly inclusive,” Sturino said. “I think we would struggle to say that you couldn’t find yourself in the Summersalt campaign, because it really is so inclusive.”
