This Lingerie Line Has An Amazing, Body-Positive Message

Photo: Courtesy of Zara Mirkin & Mayan Toledano/Lonely Label.

We've always been fans of New Zealand lingerie brand Lonely Label and its refreshing, very real visuals. It's not about overtly sexy, possibly objectifying suggestions for how to wear pretty, lace-laden pieces (as most lingerie brands offer up). And Lonely's latest campaign, showcasing its spring '16 collection of underpinnings, is no exception: It's certainly sexy, but it feels empowering.

Zara Mirkin and Mayan Toledano, photographers and longtime pals, shot the campaign and chose the models — their current muses. The images of artist, musician, and photographer Arvida Buström alongside writer and psychology and literature student Paloma Elsesser, are positively dreamy. Buström and Elsesser were fitting campaign material because they're "both strong, self-determining women," says Lonely Label cofounder, Helene Morris.

"Paloma and Arvida are such perfect role models for women today," Mirkin says. "As well as being totally stunning, they are such inspiring people with what they do, and the energy they possess is really powerful."

When Lonely Label launched in 2009, "no other lingerie labels were really resonating with us through their imagery or designs," Morris says. "We wanted to challenge the lack of diversity, over-sexualized imagery, and overly photoshopped world of lingerie." She explains that entailed "more than not photoshopping images." This lead to The Lonely Girl Project, which debuted last year and "features amazing women we know, or that our photographers know in their own way"; these women are shot in places they are comfortable, and wearing their favorite Lonely items.

The new campaign also aptly celebrates the brand's expansion into larger sizing: Many of its bra styles now go up to an F cup, and underwear is carried through size XL. Lonely Label had 10 size offerings when the line debuted; now, Morris notes its range encompasses 23 sizes. It hasn't been easy for an indie label to expand its breadth of sizes: "Committing to size diversity has meant that we have had to compromise on order scale; often we are unable to reach manufacturers' minimums," Morris says, since creating small quantities of many sizes ratchets prices up.

"Diversity is an important value we champion at Lonely, and size diversity has been a goal of Lonely from the start," Morris told Refinery29. "Stylish designs that don’t compromise on support, fit, or comfort are very limited from other [brands], and we are very proud to be able to continue to offer our designs across more and more sizes as we grow."

While there aren't specific plans to further expand sizing options at the moment (encompassing, say, plus sizes, particularly for bottoms), it's likely to happen down the line. "It's really critical that what we offer is fully functional, and expanding too widely in our designs may mean that some fit, support, and design integrity is lost," Morris says, of why this will take time to achieve. "We aim to keep increasing sizes available in styles that are suitable."

Check out the campaign, ahead; the looks featured in the imagery are available now on Lonely Label's site.