Aerie's ad campaigns are about more than just selling underwear. Since unveiling its commitment to unretouched photographs in 2014, the brand has used imagery with size- and, eventually, ability-inclusive models to share that every body belongs in its lingerie and swimwear (and none need to be photoshopped to do so). Five years later Aerie is doubling down on that message with a historic first in its spring 2019 campaign casting.
Today (January 31), Aerie announced that U.S. Paralympic snowboarder Brenna Huckaby has joined its newest class of Role Models (a.k.a. brand ambassadors) alongside Busy Philipps, Samira Wiley, and Jameela Jamil, in its latest campaign. Huckaby's appearance is a major milestone for the brand: She is the first person with a physical disability to represent Aerie as an official Role Model.
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While Huckaby, 23, has been candid about her experiences as a Paralympic athlete on social media, she tells Glamour that she didn't expect her career to bring modeling opportunities like the Aerie campaign with it. “When I started snowboarding, it was just snowboarding," she says. "And when I started competing, it was just to compete.”
She reconsidered when Aerie came knocking. Aerie's models were the only ones she'd seen with relatable characteristics like scars or cellulite, unlike the alienating, one-size-fits-all airbrushing at other stores. “In the past I’ve bought [clothing] at the store because it makes me feel good there—but then I go home and I don’t wear it because I don’t feel like I should,” she says. “I don’t feel like I'm sexy enough or beautiful enough to wear it outside in public, and no one should feel that way.”
That feeling was later compounded by unexpected circumstances. Huckaby was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer, in 2010; then her right leg was amputated to remove the cancer. She now uses a prosthetic leg for mobility.
However, the amputation didn't prevent her from achieving her athletic goals. She began competitive snowboarding in 2013, and took home two gold medals from the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. But it did make a sense of belonging and confidence harder to find. Models with prosthetics are few and far between, and their absence comes with implicit messaging. “When I was going through my amputation in 2010, there wasn’t very much representation out there,” she says. “Going through such a huge physical change, you’re questioning what your future looks like physically as well as what you’re going to be able to accomplish, whether it’s getting a job or becoming a better athlete. But more importantly, you question how the world sees you. ‘Are people going to love me? Are people going to find me beautiful?’”
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As an Aerie Role Model, Huckaby answers those questions for women who, like her, have not been included in fashion yet: Yes, I'm beautiful, and I belong. “I wanted to be a part of [the campaign] because my sport, snowboarding, is so small,” she says. “Add an amputation, and it gets smaller; then add modeling with a visible disability, and it’s even smaller than ever. The opportunity to bring that to the forefront [will] open doors to inspire women who are going through something [of their own].”
Her appearance in the Aerie campaign is a major first, but Huckaby has been hard at work revising the narrative around ability and representation long before now. Last year she walked on the Sports Illustrated Swimwear runway at Miami Swim week. The response was overwhelming, she says—especially from able-bodied viewers. “People kept reaching out to me who didn’t have disabilities [to say,] ‘Seeing this changes my perception.’”
Now she's grateful for another opportunity to show women of all abilities that they belong in fashion. “Going through a disability, it’s hard to see yourself represented,” she says. “But also able-bodied people [often] don’t know what people with disabilities are capable of, so you have to educate able-bodied people that we're capable of whatever we want to do, just as much as we need to teach people with disabilities that we can keep going.”
Had she seen someone with an amputation like hers fronting a major fashion campaign nine years ago, Huckaby says it would have changed her outlook postdiagnosis. “I think back to 2010 Brenna and how lost I was…. If I had to go back to that point, I know that I would have had a different experience. I know that I would have immediately been like, I’m beautiful, I’m worthy, and I can do this.”
