LGBT celebs rock ‘Celebrate Yourself’ undies for Pride
By Samantha Puc
In support of Pride 2017, LA-based underwear company MeUndies has launched its ‘Celebrate Yourself’ campaign. Featuring LGBT celebrities and influencers from around the US, the campaign asks, “How do you celebrate yourself?”
To kick off Pride 2017, MeUndies asked LGBT celebrities and influencers to strip down and show off their underwear. As part of its ‘Celebrate Yourself’ campaign, five influencers and several employees of the Los Angeles LGBT Center stripped down and had their photographs taken surrounded by mirrors.
Musician Big Freedia, Olympic athlete Gus Kenworthy, singer/songwriter/actress Hayley Kiyoko, vlogger Steve Boebi, and musician/YouTuber Ally Hills all modeled the underwear for MeUndies.
In video interviews featured on the brand’s website, each influencer talks about why they chose to participate in the campaign. The general theme seems to be one of self-acceptance, self-love, and transparency.
Though not every influencer talks about “coming out”, they do talk about celebrating themselves, which is the whole point of the MeUndies campaign. Certainly, stripping down to your underwear doesn’t leave much to the imagination. The photos feature each model looking at themselves in the mirror, which also promotes the idea of self-reflection.
As a bonus, the campaign is fairly intersectional. It highlights voices and bodies not often represented in underwear ads without overtly sexualizing anyone. It also offers different styles of underwear for different bodies. Sizes range from XS—2XL and there is no price difference for larger sizes.
The featured underwear are rainbow polka-dotted and cost $18 a pair. For every pair sold, MeUndies will donate $1 to the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Funds will go toward expansion of the LA LGBT Center’s Youth Center.
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Only one glaring flaw stands out in the MeUndies ‘Celebrate’ campaign. Despite featuring gender-nonconforming artist Big Freedia, the website still separates the underwear into two categories: male and female. In a campaign targeted specifically at LGBT people, it seems short-sighted. Everyone wears underwear (usually), so why not just list the available styles?