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Lately, they've been worn by everyone from Bella Hadid to Lizzo and Normani.

The corset, which has recently been seen on celebrities including Bella Hadid, Normani, and Lizzo, is perhaps one of the most controversial items in fashion history. "It is highly embedded with cultural and social significance that directly reflects the zeitgeist of the time," says Patricia Maeda, a womenswear editor at Fashion Snoops of the history of corsets. "Often associated with a way of disciplining the female body as well as an instrument of physical oppression and sexual commodification, the corset has acquired different meanings through time."

The corset 's evolution, from being seen as a highly fashionable item in the early 1900s to a fetishistic object created to enforce erotic discomfort and sexual pleasure centuries later, can tell us a lot about how society has viewed women throughout time, the trend forecaster believes. "While the corset has historically signified both beauty and oppression, corsetry, as we know it today, has been reclaimed by women who feel empowered and proud of their sexuality," offers Maeda.

Toronto-based fashion scholar Alanna McKnight has been studying, wearing, and making corsets for 20 years, which informed her doctoral dissertation about corsets as a site of feminist agency. According to her, corsets are often made from silk, coutil, or other decorative fabrics. The beautiful, often expensive items are typically investment pieces unless they're bought from fast-fashion retailers. "They've been worn by both men and women in some form or another for hundreds of years, either as part of the sartorial norm, for medical reasons, or in extreme cases as a body modification," says McKnight.

Originally, the corset was only a bodice, says Paris-based fashion historian Audrey Millet. Its use became systematic in European courts during the Renaissance and onward as an object that was used to enhance the female body by tightening the waist and making the chest visible while improving the straightness of the bust. According to fashion historian, archivist, and Teen Vogue contributor Roberta Gorin-Paracka, "corsets were used to achieve the desired silhouette depending on the trend of the day." In the 18th century, this mostly meant a nipped-in waist with a pronounced bust, while the 19th century followed the same line with a few variations depending on the decade.

"The primary function of corsets was to hold the breasts in place and to create a smooth foundation for the fashionable silhouette," says McKnight. Interestingly, boys wore it until they were about 10 years old to train their bodies, while women wore it throughout their entire lives. "Considered the weaker sex, the corset was recommended for women because their bodies would need support to keep them from softening," Millet explains. According to McKnight, the majority of the population wore them, with men wanting their stomachs to be held in while women wanted their chests pushed up and out. The article of clothing became more rigid with the use of whalebones.

"Corsets were used as a site of colonial control, a symbol of 'civilized' dress, and acting as a means of subtle physical control over subjugated peoples," says McKnight. "For the majority of middle-class women, however, corsets were necessary for the fashions of the day, and not worn to an extreme size."

But also, the corset was an instrument of social domination that differentiated the noble or the rich, in other words, someone idle, from the worker. The most familiar silhouette is most likely the S-curve of the early 20th century, says Gorin-Paracka: a corset that pushed out the bust in a "pouter pigeon" fashion and extended down to emphasize the rear end. "Much of the prevalent views on the corset are thanks to the rather extreme and short-lived Victorian trend of tightlacing, and the subsequent dress reform movement that spoke out against the evils and health issues spurred by wearing a corset."

Gorin-Paracka says the corset was not as widespread as people may think but has been used in pop culture to make a point about how corsets were a symbol of the patriarchy and also physically uncomfortable. Prior to the women's dress reform movement that began around the 1850s, corsets were generally thought to be a safeguard of internal health and to promote good posture. But as early as the 18th century, Millet says, the corset was criticized by doctors: "Some thought that it deformed the body from childhood; others warned against deforming the organs."

"Tightlacing was similar to the 'waist training' utilized by people like Kim Kardashian West in contemporary times," says Gorin-Paracka. It was in the early 20th century that the corset fell out of favor with the dress of the Gilded Age, birthing what's known as the "debutante slouch," a fashionable C-curve that was not achievable while wearing a corset, according to Gorin-Parack. After the dress reform movement, the historian and archivist explains, designers like Paul Poiret "sought to free women from the corset while still shackling them in other ways, like ankle-length hobble skirts that were narrower at the hemline." But, says Gorin-Paracka, "ultimately, the vestiges of the corset continued on, and this was especially thanks to the development of elasticized fabrics used in girdles and other undergarments that enabled women to achieve the fashionable silhouette of the time, whether it was the sharp tailoring of the 1940s or Christian Dior's New Look of the late '40s to the '50s." After WWII, McKnight says, women's fashion required a "significant reduction at the waist," while in the 1950s, bustiers were worn to hold breasts and create a smooth foundation.

With the youthquake and second-wave feminism movements of the 1960s, we saw a "barely there" underwear and anti-bra movement, which established a youthful, "natural" figure à la Twiggy and French It girls of the day like Françoise Hardy and Brigitte Bardot. According to Maeda, it was not until the 1970s through the '80s and '90s that designers including Vivienne Westwood, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and Thierry Mugler helped usher in a new era in which the corset became a symbol of sexual empowerment as opposed to one of women's oppression. "By showing the corset as outerwear rather than underwear, it was like they were making what was previously unseen, seen," says Maeda. "The corset was liberating and subversive." Corsets were worn by pop stars like Madonna, Janet Jackson, and Christina Aguilera.

Today, amidst a wave of women's underwear brands like Hara and Jonesy that make "barely there" panties and bras, we're simultaneously seeing a resurgence of corsets in fashion. "Counterculture fashion has a tendency to trickle up to mainstream fashion in a similar way that couture trickles down. So the dual forces of haute couture and counterculture fashion have ensured the staying power of corsets in mainstream fashion from both directions," says McKnight. Corsetry also has a longstanding connection to the fetish community, something the fashion industry has been drawing from recently with bras being worn on top of clothes in addition to harnesses being donned by men. With views on sexuality ever-expanding, it's really no wonder designers are sending these pieces down the runway while celebrities are rocking them on the red carpet.

"We saw corsets and bustiers come down the spring 2020 runways at Olivier Theyskens, Burberry, and Dion Lee, who collaborated with London-based atelier Fleet Ilya and featured modern leather garters, bustiers, and corsets in both his men's and women's runway looks," recounts Maeda. While the zip has played a part in making it much easier to wear a corset, today's designers have been modifying the bodice and using it in new ways, including the adding of utility pockets and the use of different fabrics.

Still, most recently the Kardashians have been credited with the resurgence of corsets, says McKnight. It's no surprise that there are plenty of articles and YouTube videos recounting people's experiences trying waist trainers like those the famous family wears. Millet even says that "if you make Kim Kardashian disappear, you will make the corset disappear."

For the last Met gala, in May 2019, Kim Kardashian West wore a Thierry Mugler and Mr. Pearl dress, a garment McKnight believes created significant backlash as being "irresponsible" and "unrealistic." Earlier this year, Kim even went on to announce her own shapewear company, Skims.

But many of the drag queens featured on RuPaul's Drag Race wear corsets of all different varieties in order to achieve a so-called feminine physique. "Corsets have made a more visible comeback now, as the current popular silhouette is curvaceous, with large posterior and breasts, with a small waist," says McKnight. "They're a way to achieve this silhouette without surgery, and less permanent and less expensive than surgery."

A lot of emerging designers are experimenting with the corset too, which is helping to invest new meaning in the item. For example, Brooklyn-based creative Kristin Mallison started making corsets that double as "wearable paintings" after seeing tapestries at a thrift store that depicted women wearing corsets. Mallison, who creates hers using vintage and antique tapestries and upholstery fabrics found on eBay and Etsy, says, "Today I feel like [the corset] is more about accessorization, not antifeminist body-modification politics. I also don't see modern corsets like the ones I make as being specifically feminine or sexualizing. They are more of a sturdy layering piece than a constricting undergarment."

"I'm interested in the corset as an extension of our society's ongoing love for body modification and the extreme ways we like to present ourselves," says designer Oscar Chavez, who finds the process of making corsets a technical challenge. The 25-year-old, who lives in New York, often makes corsets in bright colors and uses rhinestones and text. "The snatched waist has always been a coveted look, but I think now more than ever we're performing a sense of perfection online that corsets allow us to suck it all in, even if just for a photo."

Chicago-based designer Tiffany Lee, who runs Lilt Clothing and makes stretchable cow-print and brightly colored corsets, first drew inspiration from old Renaissance portraits. Now she sees the item as something that can help instill confidence in its wearers. "I think the resurgence of corsets comes from the celebration of the female figure in a self-gratification sense versus historically when it was a trend created by men for men," she says.

Sophie Ploegh, the founder of Like You Felt, a "home-sewn clothing shop", was drawn to making soft, corset-style tops that use playful color combos due to the ways people have been reclaiming their bodies on their own terms. "People around the full gender spectrum wear corsets, and people are wearing them in new contexts with new expression," the creative says. "I think corsets now are a tool to help shift ideas and cultural norms around sexuality, gender expression, and the agency to express oneself."

While today's shapes are less constricting and the pieces often incorporate only a few characteristic elements such as boning, paneling, and lacing, Maeda believes the corset is still a symbol of contradictory messages: "On the one hand it is being recontextualized as an empowering symbol of women's sexuality, while also reflecting society's regulations on the female body, including its obsession with an hourglass shape." Arguably, she believes, there is still great pressure for women to conform to beauty ideals, but it's encouraging to see women's reactions to patriarchal and oppressive regimes. Therefore, when women like Normani and Lizzo wear corsets, they're making pointed statements by subverting traditional sartorial and sensuality codes.

In order for the trend to evolve, we will need to dispose of the long-held belief that corsets are bad or a sign of patriarchal control, or that people need to get ribs removed in order to cinch down, offers McKnight: "I think corsets will continue to evolve as they have, changing with the popular silhouette of the day, and with the changes in available textiles." Still, she argues that there needs to be a wider understanding that wearing corsets does not automatically equate to tightlacing. Plus, with the democratization of gender, hopefully, a larger spectrum of people will feel comfortable in corsets. "But before this can happen, the media needs to stop demonizing corsets, and they need to stop repeating the myths that they are harmful, and not shame the people who wish to express their fashion identities through corsetry," she argues.

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How the Corset Became the Most Controversial Item in Fashion History

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From Bella Hadid to Lizzo and Normani, corsets are one of the biggest fashion trends. Here's the history of corsets and how they became one of the most controversial items in fashion history.

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View the exhibition catalog (pdf).
View images from this exhibition.

"Strive as you will to elevate woman, nevertheless the disabilities and degradation of her dress, together with that large group of false views of the uses of her being and of her relations to man, symbolized and perpetuated by her dress, will make your striving vain."
-Gerritt Smith

Reforming Fashion, 1850-1914 is about the women's dress reform movement of the late 19th and early 20th century. Fashionable dress in the 19th century went through several silhouette changes from tubular to hourglass and back to tubular. The fashion of the dress silhouette was not dependent on the natural human body but rather on a range of undergarments including chemise, petticoats, hoops, bustles, and corsets to create an artificial shape. A growing number of people including feminists, health advocates, physicians, artists, and educators began to believe that women's clothing, particularly fashionable dress, was harmful to women's health.

Solutions promoted by the dress reformers included trousers, reform underwear, and artistic dress. The reformers had a lasting impression on dress as trousers were adopted by sports enthusiasts and became part of the archetypal gymnasium suit worn at colleges and high schools. Reform styles eventually became fashionable dress as artistic reformers created more comfortable gowns with empire waists and soft drapable fabrics.

The Trouble with Fashion: Getting Dressed in the 1880s

"Trouble with Fashion" display as part of the Reforming Fashion exhibition in the Snowden Gallery. This display showcases various dresses with their "X-ray" counterparts to show the undergarments needed to achieve the various fashionable silhouettes.

Problems with fashion were evident throughout the nineteenth century. The fashionable woman reshaped her body not with diet and exercise, but with many layers of undergarments, a built-up structure that then supported and created what became the correct and ideal silhouette for her gown. The process of getting dressed of 1885 was a time consuming ritual. Women did not just jump out of bed, throw on a bra, slip, panty hose, pumps and a comfortable knit dress before dashing out the door.

When getting dressed, the fashionable woman first put on her stockings, which were gartered above the knee with elastic bands that could reduce circulation of the legs. She might then put on her high cut button shoes because, once the corset was on, it then became difficult to bend down to button the shoes. The next two pieces were drawers and chemise. Drawers were knee-length or longer cotton trousers that buttoned at the waist, often left open for ease in elimination. Over the drawers she put on either a hip-length knitted vest and a short petticoat or a chemise. The next essential garment was the corset stiffened with thin strips of whale bone. If a woman tight laced she risked squeezing her intestines and internal organs. Her breathing would be restricted as well. Over this, a woman put on a corset cover and then a bustle, a contraption made of coils that was tied around the waist and hung in back. Another petticoat would be worn over this.

Finally, the fashionable woman would put on her gown, which might consist of a boned bodice and stiffened skirt to match. Strings or elastic might be attached inside the skirt to keep the back fullness and the bustle in place. If it were cold, the fashionable woman might wear a jacket decorated with jet beads, which could add as much as ten pounds to her clothing. In all, her complete outfit could weigh as much as 25 pounds.

Ladies in Trousers

Examples of trousers for women in appropriate conditions, such as cycling and gymnasium sport activities.

One of the first elements of fashionable dress to come under the reformers' fire was the long full skirt. Long skirts dragged on the ground, sweeping up tiny vermin and debris from the street with the wearer's every step, to be then deposited indoors. Petticoats hung heavily on the waist, cage crinolines could swing out and flip up in the wind, trains and bustles were heavy and awkwardly balanced. Women's skirts made walking up and down stairs treacherous and running nearly impossible.

The reformers chose a solution which they believed was both practical and modest. They did not elect to reveal women's legs for that would have been improper, indeed, unthinkable. Rather, they chose to wear a dress made like other fashionable dresses except for its knee-length skirt worn over matching trousers. A similar style was worn by Turkish and Syrian women and had been worn on stage and for masquerade dress. Trousers, called pantalets, had also been worn under skirts by women in France in the early 1800s, and later became the fashion for young girls. Pantalets were seen on gymnasium outfits as early as 1830. Trousers also were worn by women in sanitariums and in communal societies.

Although fairly restricted in use, trousers caught the attention of a young feminist, Elizabeth Smith Miller. She adopted the costume for her own everyday dress and introduced it to her cousin, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Stanton's friend, Amelia Bloomer, editor of The Lily, a feminist tract devoted to temperance and women's reform. Bloomer began wearing the shortened skirt and trousers in 1851, the advantages of which she described in a Lily article. The local newspaper in Seneca Falls, NY, The Courier, also commented favorably on the style worn by Mrs. Bloomer, and soon newspapers picked up the account and named the style, the "bloomer". Although coverage was widespread, Amelia Bloomer observed that "some of our editorial brethren" commend us highly, while others cry out against this "usurpation of the rights of man."

In the 1850s commendations of the bloomer costume were indeed widespread; women in Europe-Britain and Germany- adopted a similar costume. Supporters in America noted the practicality and convenience of the new costume, as well as its health benefits. They saw moral and patriotic qualities in its simplicity. On the other hand, opponents have strong arguments for rejecting the bloomer. Some simply believed that it was bad fashion, or immoral or unpatriotic because it was based on foreign styles (Middle Eastern). Perhaps the strongest argument used was the belief that the bloomer was incongruous with prevailing ideology regarding women's roles. There was strong antagonism towards women wearing trousers, and those who wore the bloomer in public faced harassment. Numerous cartoons played upon deep-seated fears of people regarding gender and fashion.

Eventually, bloomers became associated with the women's rights movement, an effort not wholly embraced by Americans. Indeed, feminists shared Elizabeth Cady Stanton's opinion that woman's dress perfectly described her condition: "her tight waist and long trailing skirts deprive her of all freedom." Yet notwithstanding the recommendations given in The Lily, many feminists ceased wearing the bloomer after a few years. They believed that the ridicule became counter productive to gaining rights for women. When asked why she returned to fashionable dress, Amelia Bloomer noted the new cage crinoline greatly relieved the heavy weight of the petticoats, and as a newcomer in Iowa, she needed to be sensitive to local fashion.

Some women activists continued to wear trousers and did not stop their promotion that the trousers were better for women for health reasons. Those that advocated bloomers for health implied a weakness to women which was then not met with as much criticism. The mid-nineteenth century saw a huge increase in the interest of exercise which further linker the trousers to the health of women and made it acceptable for a variety of sports and outdoor activities, such as mountain climbing, swimming, and bicycling. This continued through the early twentieth century. Trousers may not have been readily accepted as fashionable dress, however, they were accepted for physical activities such as bathing, bicycling, and gymnastics.

Reform Underwear

Ivory cotton twill "equipose" corset/underbodice with no bones, c. 1880-1884. Kent State University Museum.

Many of the objections to fashionable dress were in fact directly related to abuses caused by undergarments. Remember that the fashionable woman of the 1880s wore too much underwear; it restricted her and weighed her down. It could be too hot in the summer and not warm enough in the winter. (Even the cage crinoline, that mercifully reduced the number of petticoats, allowed air to blow around a woman's legs). The corset was generally worn too tight. The many skirt layers created bulk at the waist and the weight of the clothing was unevenly distributed. If the excess bulk were removed, then a woman would not have to resort to tight-lacing which, according to many health experts, greatly damaged women's internal organs and caused disease.

One of the first reform undergarments to be promoted in America was the "emancipation union under flannel" patented in 1868. This union suit combined a knit flannel waist (shirt) and drawers in one. The combination, as the union suit was often called, was continuously improved by various knitwear companies and reformers in America. Susan Taylor Converse of Woburn, Massachusetts, designed an improved version in 1875 and named it the Emancipation Suit. A gathered section across the bodice freed the breasts from compression, and sets of buttons at the waist and hips helped suspend several layers of skirts. The Emancipation Suit also could have been purchased as two separate parts that buttoned together at the hips.

The Emancipation Suit was endorsed by the New England Women's Club, one of the earliest organizations to advocate undergarment reform. In 1873 their dress-reform committee, headed by Abba Goold Woolson, sponsored a series of lectures on the hazards of fashionable dress by four eminent female physicians. These lectures were later published in 1874 under the title, "Dress Reform."

One of the best known reformers of underwear was the German-born Dr. Gustav Jaeger, who published a book on rational dress titled in 1880 "Die Normalkleidung" (Rational Clothing). Jaeger's knit union suits were particularly popular with reformers in England after they were featured at the International Health Exhibition in 1884. This Kensington exhibition included a section on hygienic dress and featured noted architect and theatrical designer Edward Godwin as a speaker on dress reform.

Dress Systems

Several individuals devoted to reform devised whole systems of underclothing that included no corset at all. In the 1890s, one of America's best known health reformers, Dr. J. H. Kellogg, developed a dress system at the Battle Creek Sanitarium which was "practical, healthful and artistic". Kellogg stated that "any young woman who has not permanently ruined her body by badly constructed apparel can in a short time learn to stand like the Venus Genetrix". His dress system attempted to minimize the weight on the hips and shoulders previously emphasized in fashion. Corsets and tight bodices were discarded. Through the sanitarium women could order patterns or 'garments made in the Dress Department'. The general plan for the dress system included designs for gowns and undergarments. For the latter, women could choose from the following selections to best suit their needs for warmth and comfort: the union suit, jersey tights (worn over the union suit for extra warmth), a combination suit (instead of chemise and drawers), the Dr. Lindsay divided skirt (knitted for warmth), the improved divided skirt (without visible divide), skirt waists (to be sewn or buttoned to skirts), the improved Freedom waist (with two rows of buttons for attaching the dress skirt and petticoat or drawers, or umbrella drawers (a yoked skirt, divided skirt, and ruffled drawers with yoke).

Annie Jenness Miller, a frequent lecturer, author, and publisher on the subject of physical culture and correct dress, also devised a dress system to replace the fashionable chemise and drawers, corset, corset cover, and petticoats. As illustrated in her journal, Dress, the Jenness Miller Magazine, this system was similar to Kellogg's and included, leglettes and chemilettes, to replace petticoats, and a model bodice, to replace the corset.. The Jenness-Miller system also included a bosom support for stout women, a garment similar to a brassiere.

Although not a separate undergarment, the gown form provided by both Kellogg and Jenness-Miller was essential as a foundation for the outer dress. The gown form cut in the princess style not only replaced the lining of a fashionable skirt, but was so arranged "that graceful drapery [could] be formed upon it, and the weight evenly supported" by the body. It also eliminated tie backs around the legs and had no band at the waist. Patterns for the both systems could be purchased from the publisher or from various dress reform outlets across the country.

The new reform underwear systems of Kellogg, Jenness-Miller and others were meant to distribute the weight of clothing, eliminate the heavily boned corset, and reduce excessive bulk and weight. These undergarments could be worn without being readily noticed and were a great improvement over the more fashionable, but distorting undergarment.

Artistic Dress

View from Upper Snowden Gallery of various styles of artistic reform dress.

In order to make visible the damaging effects of the corset many authors of dress reform literature showed the statue of Venus de Milo, the epitome of natural beauty, contrasted with the distorted body of a corseted woman. However, it was the proponents of artistic dress who most heartily adhered to classical ideals of beauty reflected in the Venus statue. They applied the principles of art, upon which these ideals were founded, to dress. For them the artificiality of fashionable dress "the corset, crinoline, bustle, and other disguising elements of fashion" went against nature and thus destroyed the beauty of a woman's natural form.

Among the earliest aesthetic dress reformers were those associated with the English Pre-Raphaelite painters. As the Pre-Raphaelites and their devotees gained recognition in the 1860s and 1870s, the public had opportunity to see historic and aesthetic dress in paintings and on women who attended exhibitions at the Royal Academy and the Grosvenor Gallery in London. Many of the fabrics for artistic dress were supplied by Liberty's, the shop on Regent Street which had been established in 1875 by Arthur Lasenby Liberty as the East India Shop. Specializing in the silks most suitable to clinging robes and draperies worn by the artistic community, Liberty's introduced delicate pastel tints which they called 'Art Colors' to dye imported silks.

In 1884 Arthur Lasenby Liberty asked reformer Edward Godwin to direct the dress department in the Liberty store, making artistic dresses readily available. In its catalogs the Liberty Company offered artistic dresses which were modified to follow the conventions of modern life, but shared design elements with classical Greek clothing as reinterpreted during the Empire and Renaissance periods. The Liberty gowns were given appropriate names such as "Jacqueline", a velvet and silk crepe gown fashioned after a French fifteenth-century gown for indoor use, or "Josephine", an Empire-style (high-waisted) evening dress and they worked well with Liberty's soft and very drapable fabrics. Liberty gowns were well publicized and available in their own Paris shop and other stores throughout Europe as well as New York.

Artistic Dress in Germany and Austria

Reformers in the British Arts and Crafts movement greatly influenced artists, architects, and designers in Germany and Austria where, not surprisingly, the modern design movement of the 1890s and early 1900s included artistic reform of women's dress. Henry van de Velde, who advanced the art nouveau style, also supported artistic reform in women's dress throughout the continent, especially in Germany. Not only did he write about reform dress, but he designed dresses as well. In support of a new artistic dress, Van de Velde observed that architects had finally realized that women's dress must correspond with modern interior design and architecture as a new decorative idea that immediately makes it "a piece of art." He further suggested that clothing should express a women's individuality, the exception being street wear, which would be dictated by place or appropriateness; clothing should be fit to purpose and adapt to private, general, or ceremonial spheres. In April 1900, a successful exhibition in Krefeld, Germany, which included Van de Velde's artistic dress designs generated exhibitions of artist-designed reform dress in other cities as well, including Dresden. Leipzig, Wiesbaden and Berlin. The Wiener Werkstatte director, Koloman Moser, created reform styles for his wife that were high-waisted and full. Anna Muthesius also preferred the full, high waist style. Muthesius was an opera star and author of a book on dress reform, The Personal Dress of Women (1903).

Reform styles promoted in the Austrian fashion magazine, Wiener Mode, in 1903 included the princess and Empire style, as well as full gowns with a high waist, similar to a "Mother Hubbard" style. They could be for weddings, tea, society, or house work.

Artistic Dress in America

Aesthetic dress in America was greatly influenced by the British aesthetic movement. Ideas regarding artistic styles were rapidly dispersed through various print media. Rather than being solely confined to elite circles of artists, artistic dress appeared to have a middle-class following. Indeed, American magazines did not miss the opportunity to report an aesthetic dress. An 1878 issue of the American Agriculturist observed that the aim of the Pre-Raphaelite style was to "have a thick waist", like the Venus de Medici and Venus of Milo. Furthermore, it reported that artists declared tight waists unartistic and vulgar because the natural beauty of the human figure is lost through the destruction of its healthy proportions.

Annie Jenness Miller, publisher of Dress, the Jenness Miller Magazine (1887-1898), was an outspoken advocate of artistic reform in women's dress, stressing the need to adapt artistic principles to life and to dress in order to achieve beauty through simplicity, unity, utility, and harmony. The magazine frequently featured examples of artistic dress, patterns for which were available for purchase from the Jenness-Miller Publishing Company.

Outside of artistic circles, the artistic reform styles most acceptable to fashionable American women were wrappers, or house gowns, especially the more formal version, the tea gown, which gained popularity in the 1870s. Taking the lead of the British, Americans designed tea gowns in a vaguely medieval or classical style that appeared to be loose fitting. Etiquette demanded that they be worn only in the home where they were appropriate when entertaining close friends. However, as noted in the Jenness Miller Magazine, women of the 1890s frequently wore tea gowns in public, especially at summer resorts.

The Impact of Dress Reform on Fashion

Clearly, all efforts toward reforming dress had a lasting influence. The loose, Turkish-style trousers worn for the exercises became part of the archetypal gymnasium suit worn at colleges and high schools well into the mid twentieth century. And trousers remained quite acceptable and appropriate for hiking, biking, and many other recreational activities as well. The loose full trouser style occasionally sees revival as fashion today. Reform underwear-knit union suits, shirts and drawers-continued to be offered by stores and mail order catalogs. The drop seat union suit still provides a warm under layer for skiing and other winter sports.Reform styles as fashion was not a novelty on the continent of Europe. Wertheim's Department Store in Berlin had a dress reform department, which was run by 1903. And as early as 1901, a fashion magazine published in Vienna, Wiener Mode, illustrated various reform style gowns along with more fashionable dress. They clearly drew on the language of the artistic reformers, calling these dresses the "new style", "Empire Style" or "Empire Reform Style".It is clear that even before 1909 the idea that women could wear loose-fitting artistically inspired clothing in public was a reality. Women not only became accustomed to wearing more comfortable clothing in their homes and during physical activities, but they also began seeing actresses, dancers, and opera singers wearing simpler artistically designed dresses on stage and in public. These entertainers sought out two of the most celebrated avant-garde designers in the early twentieth century, Paul Poiret and Mariano Fortuny.These designers were acquainted with the gowns created by the German and Viennese artists and architects, as well as the artistic reform dress promoted by the Liberty Company. Fortuny's Delphos dresses and Poiret's Directoire models offered to the public in 1907 were similar to other artistic styles inspired by the Greek ideal. While these two men are often credited with freeing women from corsets, they were not the innovators. Rather, they were simply nourishing the seed that had been planted by the artistic dress reformers of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.The Empire, high-waisted, silhouette was dominant between 1909 and 1915. Gowns were often constructed of layers of soft, drapable and sometimes transparent silk fabrics, not unlike those imported and manufactured by the Liberty Co. in London. Other couture designers whose gowns reflect the reform style include Jacques Doucet and Lucille, and in the teens Vionnet and Chanel.

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Reforming Fashion, 1850-1914: Politics, Health, and Art

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View the exhibition catalog (pdf). View images from this exhibition. "Strive as you will to elevate woman, nevertheless the disabilities and degradation of her dress, together with that large group of false views of the uses of her being and of her relations to man, symbolized and perpetuated by her dress, will make your striving vain."

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Even as many of us are still staying largely indoors this summer, there's one fashion item that seemingly everyone is wearing: the corset. In 2020, the corset trend relates to a return of both boudoir dressing and cottage-core romanticism. Celebrities including Kylie Jenner, Keke Palmer, and Rowan Blanchard have all worn the corset in the past few months, and likewise, fashion insiders seem to gravitate to the garment after months and months of sweats, seeking out structure and the effect of feeling dressed up again.

The obsession with the corset started to peak in 2019, when celebs ranging from Lizzo to Rihanna and Bella Hadid wore different iterations of the garment. For the Fall/Winter 2019 fashion season, designers including Simone Rocha, Etro, Dion Lee, Sacai, and Burberry all showed their own iterations of the corset, solidifying its place in modern fashion history. Nearly a year later, as the Fall/Winter 2020 shows debuted, labels such as Kim Shui, Mugler, Fendi, Brock Collection, and Gucci also played with the same shape. The trend has also cycled down to more affordable brand offerings too, with bridge brands like Miaou and House of CB offering highly structured corsets that resemble some of their predecessors. Others, like Orseund Iris, have made their own version of the humble fashion item a signature of their brand.

Still, the corset hasn't always stood for what it stands for today: a form of empowerment, with people wearing it to show off or conceal their body on their own terms. The term 'corset' wasn't truly introduced until the 19th century. Prior to that, boned undergarments were known as 'stays.' As fashion historian and collections specialist at The Met Textile Center Elena Kanagy-Loux explains, "When stays emerged in Europe in the 16th century, women's bodies were seen as weak and in need of support just to stay upright. This sounds absurd to us now, but clothing was becoming increasingly layered and complex at the time, and fitted, boned undergarments helped to support the weight of heavy fabrics such as brocaded silk and velvet. Bras had not yet been introduced to Western women's wardrobes, and so stays also provided support for the bust, while molding the body into a fashionable conical shape."

Throughout history, the corset as we know it today was an essential part of women's wardrobes, but it also served as a form of oppression, and it was during times of upheaval that its necessity was thrown into question. "During the French Revolutionary period, when the fashion was for sheer columnar cotton gowns styled after the Antiquity, stays nearly disappeared, and the general public was shocked by seeing the natural silhouette of women's bodies through their clothing," explains Kanagy-Loux. "Corsetry had become so integral to creating an acceptable public body for women that any hint of unrestricted flesh underneath their clothing was scandalous." During such a time of revolution and upheaval, it's interesting to note that women forewent traditional dress. This may have been because of fabric and material rations, and also due to the fact that women could more easily move in less-restricting garments.

In the 19th century, some of the exaggerated silhouettes modernly associated with corsets emerged. Women "often relied upon hip and bum padding to further exaggerate their silhouette," adds Kanagy-Loux. Still, not all modern perception on the garment proves accurate. She notes that FIT Museum Director and Chief Curator Valerie Steele's 2001 publication ' The Corset: A Cultural History' aimed to debunk myths about corsetry and offered a more balanced perspective. "Some of the backlash against the extremes of corset wearing can be traced to letters written to women's magazines in the late 19th century describing extreme tight lacing down to 17 or even 15 inch waists, often by school girls. However, later research by Steele and others has identified these letters as likely exaggerations or fantasies written by corset fetishists. Extant corsets in private and museum collections today reveal the rarity of corsets under 20 inches, and even those may survive because they were not actually worn," she says.

Once the 20th century rolled around, women transitioned to girdles (a less restricting body-shaper foundation garment that encircles the lower torso, extending below the hips, and worn to shape or support). It wasn't until the 1970s came that the corset would make a major reappearance, with Vivienne Westwood beginning to introduce the corset into her punk aesthetic. Her version of the corset, worn as a top rather than under the clothing, is most similar to what's trending today. This corset style could be seen as a contrasting idea of the past oppression the corset represented. The counterculture movement of the 1970s broke many preconceived notions of dressing with loose, bohemian styles that allowed for more free flowing movement.

Gie Knaeps/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

By the time the 1980s came around, trends had begun to cycle back towards structure. Women adopted a sleek, sharp wardrobe embracing skin tight spandex and high-shouldered suits. At the same time, there was a comeback of lingerie-as-clothing styles worn by celebs -- one example is Madonna's cone bra by Jean Paul Gaultier. In the 1980s, designers such as Theirry Mugler and John Paul Gaultier also focused on corset and bustier shapes, as the underwear as outerwear trend came around. Finally, in the 1990s, labels such as Maison Margiela and John Galliano honed in on structural corsets.

Jasmine Ines, the corsetiere and designer behind Sin and Satin, who has provided corsets to Beyonce and they stylists of Rihanna and Lady Gaga, sees the corset as a piece that when worn electively signals a sense of empowerment. She explains, "the corset is a fetish garment that has a taboo sense to it." With a return of underwear as outerwear over the last few months, corsetry feels par for the course. But, what makes 2020's obsession with the corset more unique, however, is also a renewed sense of sustainability tied to the trend. There is a revival of both fashion insiders and celebs seeking out vintage corsets from iconic designers like Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier.

"Once people caught wind of the trend last year we saw corsets everywhere, from high end designers to fast fashion, everyone now has their version of the piece," explains Johnny Valencia, of Pechuga Vintage, who has sold many Vivienne Westwood corsets to celebrity clients. "I think the equation was just right. Corsets and waist trainers were already a thing in fashion, coupled with the desire for sustainability and the uniqueness factor that has made vintage so popular, it sort of makes sense why vintage corsets would take the center stage." At the same time, we can see a variety of different personalities in Hollywood taking an interest in the corset, with FKA Twigs who is a feminist artist and pushes a different narrative than someone like Kim Kardashian, who has been vocal about using waist trainers to fit her own ideal body type.

Adds Valencia, of Vivienne Westwood's iconic corsets: "I think Vivienne Westwood in general is a label for true fashion collectors and nerds. Her cuts, draping, and prints are sometimes seen as very unconventional. It's always a risk when wearing Westwood but with her corsets you can never go wrong. It's almost become like a seal of approval to your collection once you introduce a vintage Westwood corset to it." It makes sense that cool creatives are attracted to Vivienne Westwood's pieces, she was part of the pink movement and totally turned the traditional corset on its head by reinventing it into something totally new, which represented feminism rather than oppression.

At the same time, shoppers are going directly to vintage platforms to scour for corsets. According to the resale site Vestiaire Collective, Vivienne Westwood vintage pieces overall have seen a dramatic 182 percent increase in orders year over year. The top corset brands on the platform include Prada, Dior, and Vivienne Westwood.

Other fashion labels are ushering in a new era with the corset, focusing on eco-friendly upcycling. Kristin Mallison, for example, is creating some of the more unique corsets at present, made of repurposed upholstery fabric. "I love nothing more than finding an old mid-century dining room chair for $10 at a thrift store that I can turn around and make 5 or 6 corsets out of," she says. "The fabric is so sturdy and perfect for a structured garment like a corset." Elsewhere, designer Cierra Boyd makes corsets out of old sneakers and Kayla Sade Famurewa is reworking old Nike sweats into corsetry. At a time when people have reverted to comfortable dress, it's notable that fitted, structural pieces are piquing interest in contrast.

"For me, corsets are a symbol of reclaimed sexual empowerment," says Mallison. "I take influence from the past by turning that traditional look into a kind of caricature, an attempt to bring the subjects from these 'paintings' to life in a modern context. My corsets are fully boned, but instead of steel I use plastic. They're sturdy but casual, and meant to be a comfortable accessory rather than constricting the wearer."

Charlotte Knowles Spring/Summer 2020. Photo: Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

"One of the things I love about fashion is that it's so multifaceted and a single garment does not represent the same thing for everyone," adds Kanagy-Loux. As plus size women and trans women alike choose to wear the garment, its symbolic oppression is subverted into a powerful tool of self expression. For her Spring/Summer 2020 collection, designer Charlotte Knowles adopted the idea of "militarized corsetry" which Knowles' design partner Alexandre Arsenault told Vogue was created "as a reaction to the current climate. Our woman is fighting for her place in the world. She is tough and dangerous." In its modern iteration, the corset no longer serves as something to constrict or control women, but as a piece that can embody a sense of power and shared femininity.

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Even as many of us are still staying largely indoors this summer, there's one fashion item that seemingly everyone is wearing: the corset. In 2020, the corset trend relates to a return of both boudoir dressing and cottage-core romanticism.

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Tracing back the controversial history of a garment that began centuries before Regencycore hit 63 million households this Christmas.

According to social shopping services such as Like To Know It and Lyst, searches for corsets have increased by more than 100 per cent since Netflix's Bridgerton aired on Christmas Day. New data from eBay shows that 39 per cent more of us are in the market for a vintage piece inspired by the Regency-era romp, too. With a reported 63 million household views already, the series has spawned its own niche fashion trend - ' Regencycore ', which encompasses all manner of ruffles, empire lines, elbow-length gloves and pearl-encrusted headbands. Binding it all together? Corsetry.

This recent renaissance can be attributed to more than the obvious period dramas. Last summer saw Instagram-worshipped celebrities such as Hailey Bieber and Dua Lipa embrace the ' summer corset', too. But as we all know, the tradition of waist-cinching stems back much further than that.
The not-so-humble boned corset - simply structured with rigid lines and a bodice laced together in order to shape the torso - has a wildly controversial history. Long derided as a patriarchal instrument of torture that deformed the female body, historians now argue that there was no one experience of wearing a corset and that some women may even have found them positive.

Read more: Shop The 10 Key Winter 2021 Fashion Trends

Corsets were worn by women - and sometimes men - in the Western world from the 16th to the early 20th century, although corset-like garments can be traced as far back as 1600 BC. What began as a close-fitting sleeveless bodice evolved into an undergarment with stays made of whalebone, and then steel, that encircled the ribs and compressed the natural waist. The shape of the corset evolved over the centuries, alternating between longer varieties that covered the hips and shorter versions that centred on the waistline. Corsets helped shape the body into distinctive silhouettes, from the hourglass shape popular in the 1800s to the "S" figure of the 1900s.

Discussions about the corset being detrimental to women's health came to a head in the 19th century, when the popularity of the corset was at its peak. Available in a wide variety of price points, corsets were worn by upper and middle-class women and, increasingly, by working-class women as well. Some doctors blamed the corset for respiratory diseases, deformity to the ribs, damage to internal organs, birth defects, and miscarriages, while others approved of "moderate" or "health" corsets that were less rigid and helped support the body. Fashion historians Valerie Steele and Colleen Gau have argued that while corseted women may indeed have suffered from depleted lung volume and changes in breathing patterns, this would not necessarily have led to respiratory diseases. It may have caused fainting and lowered vitality, though. Steele also argues that examples of tight lacing, or the practice of fastening corsets to create the smallest possible waist, cannot be taken at face value. The letters, descriptions, and images that describe this practice may have represented sexual fantasies, she says, rather than descriptions of authentic experiences.

The invention of elastic in the 1920s gave rise to flexible sports corsets, used by women attracted to a new, active lifestyle. However, ads for corsets and articles about the newest corset styles appear in Vogue throughout the early 20th century, showing that women still sought these external garments to shape and support their body alongside girdles, compression underwear and brassieres. With the shift towards sport and healthy lifestyles in the 1960s and 1970s, the corset as an undergarment was abandoned, but its focus was already internalised. Instead of relying on a garment, women turned to diet, exercise and plastic surgery to shape their bodies and trim their waists.

Today, more severe corsets are still worn by enthusiasts and as part of fetishistic, cross-dressing and burlesque practices; and while they may no longer be part of the average woman's everyday routine, they have never truly disappeared from fashion.

In the 1970s, Vivienne Westwood began using corsets as part of her historicist punk aesthetic; imagining her corsets to empower women rather than bind them. Jean-Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler incorporated corsets into their designs in the 1980s, and who can forget Madonna making Gaultier's pink satin corset famous during her 1990 Blond Ambition tour? Since then, Stella McCartney, Yves Saint Laurent, Tom Ford, and Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga have all experimented with corsets or corset-like tailoring in their designs, sometimes layering corsetry over garments rather than under them, subverting the piece from underwear to outerwear. Always holding court in fashion photography, too, corsets have evolved from patriarchal into a symbol of free female sexuality, arguably coming full circle by being depicted in modern period dramas that centre the characters of women, such as Bridgerton and The Great. Like all good things, they had an arduous journey to get there.

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The Corset's Recurring Comeback Goes Further Than 'Bridgerton'

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Vogue traces the history of the corset, from constrictive 16th-century underwear to modern catwalk trend, to Madonna's famous Jean Paul Gaultier corset and more recently, the corset costumes in Netflix series 'Bridgerton'.

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It is London Fashion week and for some, our thoughts turn to the latest trends. What are the new colours, shapes or key items this season? In the past wearing the most fashionable styles signalled your place in society. Corsets were an integral part of women's clothing (and some men's) from the 16th century until early in the 19th. Practically compulsory for women of aristocratic birth, corsets were also adopted by working women aspiring to a fashionable silhouette.

Corsets were made from a stout fabric, with bone or metal inserts. Fastening at the front with hooks, the back closed with adjustable laces. Metal eyelets for corset lacing were introduced in France in 1828. This technical innovation allowed the waist to be tightly constricted, sometimes as far as 17 inches creating the fashionable hourglass figure popular during the 19 th century.
Left: The bones of the thorax of an elderly woman, deformed by tight-lacing of clothing, from the late 19th century (RCSPC/02066)
Women were often laced so tightly their breathing was restricted leading to faintness. Compressing the abdominal organs could cause poor digestion and over time the back muscles could atrophy. In fact, long term tight lacing led to the rib cage becoming deformed. The Hunterian Museum has an example of a rib cage showing damage caused by tight lacing. Doctors labelled these symptoms as Chlorosis or 'green sickness' and Anaemia. Blood counts were taken and patients given pills to treat the symptoms.

Many doctors wrote regularly about the negative effects of tightly laced corsets. In 1793, Von Sommerring published Uber die Wirkungen der Schnirbruste ("On the effects of the Corset") to make his point that the corset constituted a health hazard by compressing the ribs and other internal organs. Other items in the College's collections on this subject are On the ill effects of insufficient exercise, constrained positions and tight stays on young women (1833), Dress and health : an appeal to antiquity and common sense (1896) or On voluntary distortions of the human figure by artificial compression (1832).
Susan Isaac, Information Services Manager
The Lancet published a number of letters about the subject: "Death from tight lacing" (14 June 1890), "Effects of tight lacing" (16 January 1892) and "Civilisation and the corset" (11 December 1909). Some of the less scientific comments noted there were less severe symptoms among married women, theorising that "the male, once captured, it was no longer necessary to charm his eye with the slender waist..."

Fashions change and after the 1 st World War the new flapper dresses introduced a more androgynous shape requiring different underwear. Later articles in the BMJ, "Two diseases due to fashion in clothing" (23 May 1925), and The Lancet, "Corsets and Chlorosis" (22 March 1952), discuss the disappearance of chlorosis linking it firmly with the changes in fashion with women no longer wearing tightly laced corsets.

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The dangers of tight lacing: the effects of the corset - Royal College of Surgeons

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A look at the medical effects of tight corsets as worn by women in the 18th and 19th centuries.

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Are corsets in style in 2021? - Wear Next.

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Billie Eilish surprised everyone in her cover for British Vogue’s June 2021 issue. We’re taking it as the final confirmation: corsets are back and definitely in style in 2021.

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Of the countless items of clothing that Jean Paul Gaultier is remembered for - over three decades of shows from French fashion's enfant terrible makes for many a recognisable garment - few lodge in the memory quite like his spirited take on the corset. Two in particular: first, the slimmed-down curves of his torso-shaped Classique perfume bottle; second, his pink satin, conical-breasted creation for Madonna's 1990 Blond Ambition tour, an image of true pop culture ubiquity.

The latter's thrill comes from the way it turns the inside outside, making the previously unseen, seen. Gaultier may not have been the first to recognise the undergarment-as-outerwear's capacity for subversion - fellow provocateur Vivienne Westwood placed a silk bustier atop a blouse as part of her A/W82 collection Nostalgia of Mud, and in the years afterwards pinched waists and large crinolines would become something of a signature for John Galliano's Dior - but few people have approached the corset quite with Gaultier's zeal. His had bite.

"The burgeoning sexual freedom of women, seeded in the 1960s, culminated in Gaultier's costume design for Madonna's 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour," wrote fashion critic Suzy Menkes in her introduction to The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier. "His rebel-with-a-corset moment was when runway and stage merged, bringing to a global public the vision of the bra that the designer had revealed first on the catwalk in the early 1980s." Madonna's message to the world? Strapping oneself up had never looked so liberating.

In New York this week, cult vintage store James Veloria, (a combination of the founders' names, Collin James Weber and Brandon Veloria Giordano, founded in a Chinatown mall) are pooling a collection of over 200 rare Gaultier pieces, gathered over the years, which will go on sale as a pop-up in Opening Ceremony. It is the first time that the pair are selling the work of a single designer in this way, but their longtime love of his clothing made him a fitting starting point.

"The first piece that I encountered was in high school," Giordano says. "I found a pair of sailor pants with eye hooks that went up the back and striped cuffs and a matching fitted mesh sailor T-shirt that I still own. They were such fun takes on classics." Weber too encoutered Gaultier young, buying a bondage strap jacket from A/W93's Chic Rabbis collection. This was more than personal, though - the time felt ripe for a celebration of the designer's work, less frequently intellectualised than his contemporaries. (A fact sometimes attributed to his appearance on satirical television show, Eurotrash.)

"There's a sense of humour, fantasy, and wit to his designs that's often lacking in fashion these days," Giordano says. "His clothing is beautifully made, innovative in design and always a little subversive for whichever time period it was designed in. His legacy is a designer without boundaries - someone who has marched to the beat of his own drum and makes clothing for people who do the same."

In the treasure trove is an iteration of his corset, here inserted, cage-like, into a jumpsuit and taken from Gaultier's S/S89 show (similar pieces would appear in the fall collection of the same year). Constructed from linen, and combining the broad-shouldered tailoring of the era's corporate uniform with the seductive allure of the corset, it encapsulated his knack for working on the boundaries of oppositions - power and eroticism; masculine and feminine; the boadroom and the bedroom.

"We've had some of the other cut-out cage pieces from that era before but never a jumpsuit," Brandon says. "It takes these classic elements like suiting and corsetry that could normally feel conservative or restricting and subverts into something sexy, and powerful. It is a garment that forces you to stand tall and feel empowered and I think takes a very strong person to wear it."

Among the other finds available as part of the sale are a floral, graffitied men's dress from S/S95, coiled leather bra tops and a selection of Gaultier's vivid prints, including those from A/W95, his Mad Max collection. A lot came from the pair's personal archive, but it also set them on a trail to discover other rare, and previously unsold pieces - including pieces from a woman who's mother used to work for the atelier.

Is there a piece that got away? "That's really hard to say. We've bought and sold so many amazing Gaultier pieces over the years!" Giordano says. "I think a big part of what makes us happy about our business is finding fun new homes for each garment and meeting people who are as excited about the clothing as we were. With this sale we've really put all of our favourite pieces from our own closet out there. It will be hard to see some of them go, but we know there will be lots more finds in the future!"
James Veloria is open at Opening Ceremony Soho, New York, until April 17, 2018.

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The Subversive Power of the Jean Paul Gaultier Corset

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Of the countless items of clothing that Jean Paul Gaultier is remembered for - over three decades of shows from French fashion's enfant terrible makes for many a recognisable garment - few lodge in the memory quite like his spirited take on the corset.

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Kim Kardashian may be in the midst of a photoshopping scandal, but that hasn't stopped her from sharing a series of glamorous photos from Diddy's extravagant 50th birthday over the weekend. Wearing a vintage Vivienne Westwood wedding dress (another nostalgic notch on the Kardashian's long vintage list), the buttercream silk gown nipped Kardashian's famous hourglass shape fanning out into an elegant train at its end. But it was up top which is most significant, its corset bodice just another example of the corset trend which is fixating fashion, and in turn, Hollywood.

An archaic, rigid fashion practise, corsetry in the current fashion Zeitgeist has taken on softer - even functional - form, with modern iterations in snakeskin, jersey and lace thanks to Prada, Miu Miu, Versace, Loewe and of course, Dion Lee (Hollywood's corset favourite). A trend backed by the celebrity set, this month has seen the corset in all its glorious incarnations transpire at almost every red carpet.

Last week, Kerry Washington attended Hollywood Reporter's Power 100 Women in Entertainment in a lacy, cap-sleeved corset by Brock Collection.

Camila Cabello swapped out her elaborate pearl-crusted corset on the cover of album 'Romance' for another artful bodice by The Blonds, pledging her allegiance to the creative corset.

Lizzo wore the cummerbund waist variety for her performance on Jingle Ball, Kendall Jenner wore a fitted snakeskin bodice, while King Princess has been a corset advocate the entire month, wearing everything from gilt baroque-style corsets to mod fringed ones.

Even Hollywood's Hayley's - Hailee Steinfeld and Hailey Bieber - have backed the corset this month, with Steinfeld dining in New York in a sheer black corset and Bieber doing a coffee run in West Hollywood in Are You Am I's nude corset.

But perhaps the corset which has caused the biggest stir in Hollywood is Dion Lee's Sheer Jersey Corset, which has found fans in Kendall Jenner, Kourtney Kardashian, Dua Lipa, Michelle Pfieffer, Gigi and Bella Hadid. It's been such a hit, Lee can't keep the corset in stock.

A trend we're too a fan of, it's the ultimate piece to shape, curve and cinch the body, plus holds you in all the right places - particularly pertinent for the current festive gluttony. Just add a silky maxi skirt or wide-leg trouser and you're good to go.

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Along With The Rest Of Hollywood, Kim Kardashian Validates The Case For Corsetry

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Kim Kardashian may be in the midst of a photoshopping scandal, but that hasn't stopped her from sharing a series of glamorous photos from Diddy's extravagant 50th birthday over the weekend. Wearing a vintage Vivienne Westwood wedding dress (another nostalgic notch on the Kardashian's long vintage list), the buttercream silk gown nipped Kardashian's famous hourglass shape fanning out into an elegant train at its end.

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There was no shortage of celebrities reviving archival fashion in 2019. We saw glimmering vintage Versace dresses on Kim Kardashian West, rare Jean-Paul Gaultier cyber dot looks on Charli XCX, and Cardi B in a series of showstopping, sculptural Thierry Mugler creations. But there was one item in particular that never stopped infiltrating our feeds: Vivenne Westwood corsets. The amount of women wearing the vintage body-cinching pieces numbered in the dozens, and even marked a new chapter for some celebrities' style journeys. Just take Kourtney Kardashian: back in February, the eldest Kardashian sister wore a piece from king-of-corsets dealer Johnny Valencia of Pechuga Vintage; namely, a corset featuring a black lace asymmetrical piece from Vivienne Westwood Gold Label. Suddenly, Kardashian looked both "snatched," and as if she-or rather, her stylist-had accrued a wealth of knowledge about the famed Brit designer's deep cuts.

Other fans of Westwood's corsets this past year include Barbie Ferreria, Miley Cyrus, Megan Thee Stallion, and Alexa Demie, all of whom wore an incarnation from Valencia's Pechuga Vintage. "I decided to introduce a new generation of collectors to the corset, because that was what Vivienne Westwood was best known for in the late '80s and for a decade after," he writes to Vogue. It had an impact: The most unmistakable Westwood corset cameos were the most decorative of the designer's creations. One style that proved especially popular with this younger generation was the waist-whittling numbers featuring passion-soaked paintings by 18th-century artist Francis Boucher, like the image of Daphnis and Chloe that hails from the Vivienne Westwood Fall 1990 collection, and currently lives in the Victoria and Albert Museum of London, or the corset that shows the lip-locking close-up of Hercules and Omphale from the Fall 1993 collection.

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The Most Popular Vintage Piece of 2019 Was Extremely Rare-And Extremely Unmistakable

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There was no shortage of celebrities reviving archival fashion in 2019. We saw glimmering vintage Versace dresses on Kim Kardashian West, rare Jean-Paul Gaultier cyber dot looks on Charli XCX, and Cardi B in a series of showstopping, sculptural Thierry Mugler creations. But there was one item in particular that never stopped infiltrating our feeds: Vivenne Westwood corsets.

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By Ashley Joy Parker

A guided occasion.

Kim Kardashian turning 40 was certainly a guided occasion.

The KKW beauty founder jetted off to Marlon Brando's The Brando Resort in Tahiti this week with 30 of her closest friends and family to celebrate the milestone. The private island boasts 35 luxury villas which rent for up to $20,000 a night and have private pools. The ultra luxurious vacation, reported to be worth $1 million, took place despite the global lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the big bash, Kardashian wore a Vivienne Westwood gold leather number featuring a tight corset top and flared mini-skirt. The frock hails from the British designer's Spring/Summer 1988 "Time Machine" collection, which has been displayed at London's Victoria & Albert Museum and the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC.

Currently, a similar look from the coveted collection is going for $9,970 on 1stdibs, while a single silver corset from the same show recently sold for $5,983.

Kardashian styled her look with $890 Amina Muaddi "Henson" sculpted heels.

View this post on Instagram

40 and feeling so humbled and blessed. There is not a single day that I take for granted, especially during these times when we are all reminded of the things that truly matter. For my birthday this year, I couldn't think of a better way to spend it than with some of the people who have helped shaped me into the woman I am today. Before COVID, I don't think any of us truly appreciated what a simple luxury it was to be able to travel and be together with family and friends in a safe environment. After 2 weeks of multiple health screens and asking everyone to quarantine, I surprised my closest inner circle with a trip to a private island where we could pretend things were normal just for a brief moment in time. We danced, rode bikes, swam near whales, kayaked, watched a movie on the beach and so much more. I realize that for most people, this is something that is so far out of reach right now, so in moments like these, I am humbly reminded of how privileged my life is. #thisis40

A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on

This is the second vintage gold ensemble she rocked while celebrating her 40th. Months ago, at a pre-recorded party for Keeping Up With The Kardashians, the mom-of-four wore a strapless sparkly gold Dolce & Gabbana mini-dress from a 1992 collection paired with leg-wrapping metallic sandals from Rene Caovilla.

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Kim Kardashian Celebrates Her 40th Birthday In Vintage Vivienne Westwood

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By Ashley Joy Parker A guided occasion. Kim Kardashian turning 40 was certainly a guided occasion. The KKW beauty founder jetted off to Marlon Brando's The Brando Resort in Tahiti this week with 30 of her closest friends and family to celebrate the milestone.

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Vivienne Westwood Outfits | Steal Her Style

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Anne-Marie performed at Scarborough wearing Asymmetrical Shirt (Sold Out - Wrong color pictured) and Tartan Pattern Skirt (Sold Out) both by Vivienne Westwood, two Black Crystal Bead Hair Clip ($4.00 each), Missoma Lucy Williams Gold Roman Arc Coin Necklace ($188.00), Christian Dior Danseuse Étoile Choker ($750.00) and Dr Martens x Dolls Kill Jadon 1B60 Max Boots (Sold Out).

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At the start of 2015, Kim Kardashian West took to Twitter to say she and husband Kanye were going through her wardrobe to give it a bit of a reboot. Fast-forward a year-and one more baby later-and Kardashian West seems to be at it again. After Snapchatting a rack of clothes from Balmain, which she then wore for multiple appearances, the 35-year-old mother of two seems to be aiming for femininity mixed with an old-world sensibility. Already she has debuted two standout looks in this vein, both from British designer Vivienne Westwood, focusing on a traditional aesthetic with a fashion-forward slant.

On Thursday evening, she headed straight from her win at the Webby Awards for her site and appto the tarmac in the same black evening dress from Westwood, which was draped over her famous physique with an elegant twist. Skip ahead to the jet-setter's weekend, which saw her go from London, where she spoke at the Vogue Festival, to Rome for Valentino and Sofia Coppola's reimagining of La Traviata. However, instead of wearing one of the Italian house's intricately embellished frocks, Kardashian West went minimal with another stunner from Westwood, this one an off-the-shoulder version in optic white. Once again she returned to the corset, wearing the Renaissance-era staple for night and setting a new regal tone for her wardrobe.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West on eating reindeer at Met Gala 2016:

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Kim Kardashian West Goes Regal With Her New Look

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At the start of 2015, Kim Kardashian West took to Twitter to say she and husband Kanye were going through her wardrobe to give it a bit of a reboot. Fast-forward a year-and one more baby later-and Kardashian West seems to be at it again.

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Vivienne Westwood's 1990 corset from her "Portrait Collection" took an 18th-century painting and garment type and updated them to the 20th century. She emphasized the erotic power of the form, but employed more modern, flexible materials to improve comfort.

Vivienne Westwood is known for her reinterpretations of past fashions, subverting their purpose and bringing them into the current era. This corset (Fig. 1), which debuted in her 1990 Spring/Summer Portrait Collection, was no exception. On the front panel of the corset, Westwood printed the 1743 painting Daphnis and Chloe, Shepherd Watching a Sleeping Shepherdess by French Rococo artist François Boucher (Fig. 9). It is framed by shoulder straps featuring classical motifs and gold sides.

The corset emulates the corset shape from the eighteenth century (Fig. 2), however, the fabrics used to create it have been modernised. Westwood utilises more comfortable and flexible fabrics, such as lycra, and leaves out the traditional boning which is used in corsetry to maintain a rigid structure and shape. Furthermore, Westwood has alternatively presented her corset as outerwear instead of an undergarment. By utilising the corset as outerwear, Westwood subverts the traditional purpose of corsetry and in turn, reclaims it as a symbol of female liberation and empowerment.

Vivienne Westwood (Italian, born 1940). Vivienne Westwood (British, 1941-). Corset, 1990. Polyamide, polyester, lycra. London: Victoria & Albert Museum. T.216-2002. Source: V&A

From the sixteenth to the twentieth century, the corset was a vital piece of underwear for women. However, it is one of the most controversial garments in fashion history. Originating in aristocratic court culture, the corset was a symbol of nobility and wealth until it was worn by women of all classes (Steele 1). The main purpose of the undergarment was to slim a woman's waist whilst providing support to the bust resulting in the desired feminine silhouette of the era.

Figure 2 is an eighteenth-century corset that is referred to as a 'stay'. It is a stiff, boned garment that would have supported the women's bust, slimmed the waist, and pushed their shoulders back. A ca. 1890s corset is featured in figure 3. This French corset illustrates the fashionable silhouette at that time: a full bust, nipped-in waist, and curved hips. The corset is made from cotton twill and is structured with baleen and steel bones to keep its rigidity. The similarities in shape, such as the slimmed waist and neckline, are clear to see in Westwood's corset and the eighteenth-century corset in figure 2.

Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier began to use underwear as outerwear in the 1980s. In Westwood's 1982 collection, Nostalgia of Mud, she featured the Mud Bra (Fig. 4). Gaultier designed the cone bra dress in 1984 (Fig. 5), a play on the cone bra which came out in the 1950s. However, Vivienne Westwood was the first twentieth-century designer to revive the corset in its original form in 1987 (V&A), and it continued to be incorporated in fashion designs by designers throughout the 1990s (Fig. 6).

In The Corset: A Cultural History (2011), Valerie Steele wrote, "Westwood's revival of the corset may be one of her most important contributions to late twentieth-century fashion" (166). Westwood first reintroduced the traditional corset shape in her Harris Tweed collection in 1987 (Fig. 7). Westwood called the corset 'Stature of Liberty,' emphasizing how they were no longer constricting undergarments, instead bold statements of female liberation (Kendall). Westwood reiterated the same message when she featured this corset in her Portrait collection in 1990.

It is important to note, as Steele stresses, that "Corsetry was not one monolithic, unchanging experience that all unfortunate women experienced before being liberated by feminism" (1). Her book debunks the myth that corsets were entirely enforced by a patriarchal society. The experience of wearing a garment is subjective and this monolithic, oppressive view positions women as uniformly passive and oppressed. Steele shows that many arguments about corsetry being detrimental to the health of the wearer do not hold up to scrutiny as corsets could not have caused all the health issues and illnesses some claimed they did (68). In the case of Westwood reclaiming the corset, she wishes to retire the oppressive myth of corsetry, and celebrate it as a garment of female power and liberation, as demonstrated by her naming the corset in the Harris Tweed collection 'Stature of Liberty.'

The Portrait Collection, 1990

In the documentary Why I Love the Wallace about The Wallace Collection, which owns the Boucher painting she printed on the corset, Vivienne Westwood said:

"All my ideas come from studying the ideas of the past. There is a link between art and fashion. I couldn't design a thing if I didn't look at art."

One of Westwood's favoured sources of inspiration is The Wallace Collection, in London, which is known for its extensive collection of 18th-century decorative arts and paintings. For Westwood, it represents a high point of culture from 18th Century Britain which she wanted to celebrate and therefore, she based the Portrait collection on it (Westwood).

Fashion in the 1980s and 90s saw a revival of 18th-century society in popular culture (Dorogova). Fully embracing the taste and style of The Wallace Collection, Westwood styled her models entirely on 18th-century paintings. For example, models wore pearl accessories as though they may have just stepped out of the paintings (Dorgova). Westwood was keen to include an actual painting in her collection, thus she printed Boucher's Daphnis and Chloe painting onto the corset.

Never one to play it safe, Westwood included two models who kissed on the runway (Fig. 8), just as Daphnis and Chloe seem poised to do. As Westwood once said in an interview, "I play around with the idea of sexuality because I don't like orthodoxy in any shape or form." (Westwood). The models were dressed in the corset, thus building on the ideas of the Portrait collection corset being a metaphor for female liberation.

The painting Daphnis and Chloe, Shepherd Watching a Sleeping Shepherdess by François Boucher (Fig. 9) caused quite a stir when it was first debuted due to its intimate depiction of Daphnis and Chloe from Longus' novel of the same name.

Written in the Roman Empire, the Ancient Greek novel tells the story of Daphnis and Chloe who were both abandoned at birth. Chloe was found by Dryas, a shepherd, and Lamon, a goatherd, discovers Daphnis. Growing up together, Daphnis and Chloe fall in love, however they can't comprehend what their feelings are. Various characters pitch in to try and help Daphnis and Chloe make sense of their feelings. One character suggests the cure is kissing. Whilst another explains love making to Daphnis, including details of the discomfort and bleeding Chloe may experience. These details put Daphnis off engaging in such activities with Chloe. Time passes during which Daphnis and Chloe are separated. Chloe is courted by suitors and Daphnis is abducted by pirates. Recognising them, Daphnis and Chloe's birth parents come to the rescue and return them to safety. Chloe and Daphnis reunite and get married, living out the rest of their lives happily together.

For her corset, Vivienne Westwood honed in on the erotic section of the painting. Westwood's corset, featuring Daphnis and Chloe in lust, leaves a memorable impression of the subversion of a garment which no longer confines women, but liberates them.

The corset is now a regular feature on the runway, arguably as a result of Westwood's innovative use of the historic garment. Many fashion designers continue to use the corset in their collections (Figs. 10, 11). Westwood's original period corset from 1990 also continues to be worn and celebrated as a breakthrough fashion moment of the twentieth century. In figure 12 it is worn by the singer-songwriter FKA Twigs in 2019. No longer is female sexuality concealed and eschewed, instead Westwood brings it to the fore, celebrating it by subverting the purpose of this historical garment. As Steele wrote, "the meaning of any item of clothing is not embedded in the clothing itself; it's something we create and are constantly renegotiating" (Bramley). This is certainly true for Westwood's corset.

References:

Bramley, Ellie Violet. "Let Loose: How the Corset Is Being Reclaimed by the Fashion Industry." The Guardian, April 1, 2017. http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2017/apr/01/corset-new-female-power-suit-vivienne-westwood-madonna-miuccia-prada.

Dorogova, Waleria, "Ensemble from the "Portrait" Collection, Vivienne Westwood Ready-to-Wear, Fall/Winter 1990-1991", Fashion Photography Archive, London: Bloomsbury, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781474260428-FPA177

Kendall, Zoë, "How Corsets Took Over the World", i-D, 2020. https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/wxq8v5/how-corsets-took-over-the-world

Longus, Daphnis and Chloe, Penguin Classics, England: Penguin Books, 1989. https://www.worldcat.org/title/daphnis-and-chloe/oclc/1129638322&referer=brief_results

"Painted Ladies", Channel 4 Documentary, 1996, Part 1: "Nobility, Virtue and Nobility", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyswGKKhdAw Part 2: "Aesthetic Lust", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlkTluY-e_c Part 3: "Luxury and Frivolity," https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MlIkXdlOjc

Steele, Valerie, The Corset: A Cultural History, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2011. https://www.worldcat.org/title/corset-a-cultural-history/oclc/993523680&referer=brief_results

"The Corset in Late 20th Century Fashion", The Victoria and Albert Museum, http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-corset-in-late-20th-century-fashion/

Vivienne Westwood: Why I Love the Wallace. Video. The Wallace Collection, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_-XK5WaZEo

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1990 - Vivienne Westwood, "Portrait Collection" Corset

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Vivienne Westwood's 1990 corset from her "Portrait Collection" took an 18th-century painting and garment type and updated them to the 20th century. She emphasized the erotic power of the form, but employed more modern, flexible materials to improve comfort. Vivienne Westwood is known for her reinterpretations of past fashions, subverting their purpose and bringing them into the current era.

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In the 15th century, Agnès Sorel became the first titled mistress. She died under mysterious circumstances at the age of 28, but not before she made the nip slip haute couture.

Agnès Sorel took the French court by storm when King Charles VII declared he was going to leave his pregnant wife for her in 1444. Agnès, born to provincial nobility, found herself in a position to influence the French monarch at the age of 22, her status solidified when Charles VII granted her with the title maîtresse-en-titre. With the title, Agnès became the first officially recognised royal mistress with all the privileges of courtly life.

Though she was allowed in court, her presence was not always welcomed. Agnès was at the heart of many scandals, most of them relating to her fashion choices. The maîtresse was known for her ample bosom and took an if-you've-got-it-flaunt-it approach to her assets. Not only did she accentuate her décolletage with an uncut-diamond necklace, Agnès also made a habit of keeping her bodice unlaced so that her breasts were exposed.

French aristocrats were more distressed by her jewellery choice than they were by the sight of a female nipple - two centuries earlier, King Louis IX had passed an act that prohibited the wearing of diamonds by anyone but the king. Agnès stunned the court when she sauntered in with the forbidden jewels prominently displayed. While courtiers gossiped about the indiscretion, Agnès's proximity to the monarch meant she did not have to fear retribution. It has even been rumoured that she was gifted the world's first cut diamond.

Painter Jean Fouquet was so inspired by Agnès's grand tetons that he used her as a model for his painting, The Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels (c. 1450). Agnès, as the Virgin Mary, sits crowned on a throne, dressed in the iconic blue, an ermine cape around her shoulders and her bodice opened to reveal one milk-white breast the size of the infant Lord's head.

Fouquet's painting is one of many from the time period featuring the 'nursing Madonna' motif. His intention was not to make Agnès a 15th-century glamour model; rather, Agnès's bust was used to represent the maternal sacred breast.

Conservative clergymen, already peeved with the king's decision to make a court appointment for his mistress, were outraged that a woman known for her sexuality was used to portray the Holy Mother. Nevertheless, Agnès remained the king's darling, a position that gave her authority to shake things up, though likely contributed to her untimely death.

Pregnant with their fourth child, Agnès died at the age of 28 in 1450 while on her way to visit Charles VII. When Charles VII received news of the death of his unborn son and mistress, he was told that she had contracted dysentery. Charles was suspicious, especially when his advisers began to blame the minister Jacques Coeur. Coeur was later imprisoned - though modern assessments claim the imprisonment was false.

Suspicion surrounding the events was so pervasive that in 2005, Agnès's body was exhumed. Forensic scientists determined that the true cause of death was mercury poisoning. Mercury was a common ingredient in Medieval cosmetics, but the levels found in Agnès's body were so high they could only be attributed to ingestion.

Agnès's sway over Charles VII led some to refer to her as la reine sans couronne (the queen without a crown). She was seen as a successor to Joan of Arc as adviser to the king. Agnès has been credited with helping Charles VII to regain control of his kingdom. It is possible that Agnès was poisoned by someone who did not care for her political strength.

Some theorise that the poisoning was planned by Charles VII's son, the future King Louis XI, who was already in open rebellion against his father. Louis XI, unhappy with Agnès's ability to influence his father's political decisions, might have also worried that a new male heir would threaten his position in the line of succession.

Though Agnès died young, her legacy lived on as both ladies and chefs served up their respective dishes a l'Agnès Sorel. In the culinary tradition, her name appears on timbales; veloutés; a garnish made with button mushrooms, pickled tongue and truffles; and a demi-glace of rendered stock and madeira wine.

As time passed, women's necklines continued to lower. By the 16th century, it was common fashion for women of all ranks to open their apple-dumpling shop* to the public. Exposed ankles and legs were deemed far more likely to drive the delicate male libido to uncontrollable lust.

Perhaps after one too many scalded nipples, women generally stopped exposing their breasts at banquets by the 18th century. However, that did not mean they completely covered up. Eighteenth-century fashionistas covered the chest just above the nipple to preserve an air of mystery, thereby making the occasional (and expected) nip slip that much more titillating.

Prior to her death, Agnès Sorel was granted a papal absolution, despite her role as a mistress. This suggests that there was a level of sexual freedom granted to some women in the late Medieval period that often goes overlooked. As movements like Free the Nipple gain steam, maybe la mode a l'Agnès Sorel will make a comeback.
*antiquated slang for breasts

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The Truth Behind the Royal Mistress Who Made Wearing Less Clothes Fashionable

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In the 15th century, Agnès Sorel became the first titled mistress. She died under mysterious circumstances at the age of 28, but not before she made the nip slip haute couture. Agnès Sorel took the French court by storm when King Charles VII declared he was going to leave his pregnant wife for her in 1444.

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On the first night of Madonna's Blond Ambition tour, held in April 1990 in Chiba, Japan, few in the audience could have prepared themselves for the spectacle about to unfold. With its $2 million dollar stage set, explosive choreography by voguing legends from the New York City ballroom scene, and headline-grabbing aesthetic fusion of Catholic imagery and BDSM, the show solidified Madonna's position at the top of music's pantheon. In less than two hours, she was no longer just a pop star-she had graduated to become a fully-fledged pop culture icon.

For her most avid fans, though, it was less of a surprise: Madonna was merely following up on the string of controversies that accompanied her latest album, Like a Prayer, a year earlier. A $5 million sponsorship deal with Pepsi was swiftly pulled after she debuted the video for her lead single, "Like a Prayer," the plot of which implicitly drew a link between racial injustice and organized religion. Featuring Ku Klux Klan-style burning crosses and Madonna receiving the stigmata, it led to a direct call from the Vatican to boycott Pepsi and its subsidiaries. "Art should be controversial, and that's all there is to it," Madonna told the New York Times with nonchalance in the lead-up to the album's release. (This laid-back response may have been due to the fact that Pepsi, eager to extricate themselves from the kerfuffle, let Madonna keep the $5 million check.)

Yet outside of the pearl-clutching backlash that followed the tour's debut, the image that would come to define it was far more modest, arriving within the first few minutes of the show. Sporting an artfully slashed pinstripe suit, Madonna levitated to the stage on a hydraulic platform. She held a monocle hanging off her necklace up to her eye, before launching into "Express Yourself." Then, moments later, she and her backup dancers whipped off their jackets to reveal something a little more sexy.

The pink conical bra that Madonna wore underneath is so embedded within the canon of both pop music and fashion that it now requires little introduction. Designed by Jean Paul Gaultier, who Madonna personally requested to create the costumes for the tour (she even handwrote him a letter to express her admiration for his humorous take on fashion), the look was the product of many months of collaboration, with fittings taking place both in New York and Gaultier's ateliers in Paris.

"When Madonna first called me in 1989, it was two days before my ready-to-wear show, and I thought my assistant was joking," said Gaultier in a 2001 interview with the New York Times. "I was a big fan. She knew what she wanted-a pinstripe suit, the feminine corsetry. Madonna likes my clothes because they combine the masculine and the feminine." Indeed, it was this gender-bending spirit that made the tour's visuals so memorable; just take her male dancers, who threw flamboyant shapes while sporting Tom of Finland-esque leather lace-back tops paired with Bob Fosse bowler hats. (The less glamorous side of which was explored memorably in the 2016 documentary Strike a Pose, where these dancers, many of whom were living with HIV/AIDS, saw their hopes and aspirations either realized or heartbreakingly thwarted.)

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The Story Behind Madonna's Iconic Jean Paul Gaultier Cone Bra

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On the first night of Madonna's Blond Ambition tour, held in April 1990 in Chiba, Japan, few in the audience could have prepared themselves for the spectacle about to unfold. With its $2 million dollar stage set, explosive choreography by voguing legends from the New York City ballroom scene, and headline-grabbing aesthetic fusion of Catholic imagery and BDSM, the show solidified Madonna's position at the top of music's pantheon.

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THE STORY OF: Madonna’s Iconic Jean Paul Gaultier Cone Bra

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Part of an ongoing series of 29Secrets stories, taking a deep dive into the history of legendary beauty products and iconic fashion moments... By Christopher Turner Illustration by Michael Hak Madonna’s pink satin cone bra made its first

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THE STORY OF: Madonna’s Iconic Jean Paul Gaultier Cone Bra

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Vivienne Westwood's 1990 corset from her "Portrait Collection" took an 18th-century painting and garment type and updated them to the 20th century. She emphasized the erotic power of the form, but employed more modern, flexible materials to improve comfort.

Vivienne Westwood is known for her reinterpretations of past fashions, subverting their purpose and bringing them into the current era. This corset (Fig. 1), which debuted in her 1990 Spring/Summer Portrait Collection, was no exception. On the front panel of the corset, Westwood printed the 1743 painting Daphnis and Chloe, Shepherd Watching a Sleeping Shepherdess by French Rococo artist François Boucher (Fig. 9). It is framed by shoulder straps featuring classical motifs and gold sides.

The corset emulates the corset shape from the eighteenth century (Fig. 2), however, the fabrics used to create it have been modernised. Westwood utilises more comfortable and flexible fabrics, such as lycra, and leaves out the traditional boning which is used in corsetry to maintain a rigid structure and shape. Furthermore, Westwood has alternatively presented her corset as outerwear instead of an undergarment. By utilising the corset as outerwear, Westwood subverts the traditional purpose of corsetry and in turn, reclaims it as a symbol of female liberation and empowerment.

Vivienne Westwood (Italian, born 1940). Vivienne Westwood (British, 1941-). Corset, 1990. Polyamide, polyester, lycra. London: Victoria & Albert Museum. T.216-2002. Source: V&A

From the sixteenth to the twentieth century, the corset was a vital piece of underwear for women. However, it is one of the most controversial garments in fashion history. Originating in aristocratic court culture, the corset was a symbol of nobility and wealth until it was worn by women of all classes (Steele 1). The main purpose of the undergarment was to slim a woman's waist whilst providing support to the bust resulting in the desired feminine silhouette of the era.

Figure 2 is an eighteenth-century corset that is referred to as a 'stay'. It is a stiff, boned garment that would have supported the women's bust, slimmed the waist, and pushed their shoulders back. A ca. 1890s corset is featured in figure 3. This French corset illustrates the fashionable silhouette at that time: a full bust, nipped-in waist, and curved hips. The corset is made from cotton twill and is structured with baleen and steel bones to keep its rigidity. The similarities in shape, such as the slimmed waist and neckline, are clear to see in Westwood's corset and the eighteenth-century corset in figure 2.

Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier began to use underwear as outerwear in the 1980s. In Westwood's 1982 collection, Nostalgia of Mud, she featured the Mud Bra (Fig. 4). Gaultier designed the cone bra dress in 1984 (Fig. 5), a play on the cone bra which came out in the 1950s. However, Vivienne Westwood was the first twentieth-century designer to revive the corset in its original form in 1987 (V&A), and it continued to be incorporated in fashion designs by designers throughout the 1990s (Fig. 6).

In The Corset: A Cultural History (2011), Valerie Steele wrote, "Westwood's revival of the corset may be one of her most important contributions to late twentieth-century fashion" (166). Westwood first reintroduced the traditional corset shape in her Harris Tweed collection in 1987 (Fig. 7). Westwood called the corset 'Stature of Liberty,' emphasizing how they were no longer constricting undergarments, instead bold statements of female liberation (Kendall). Westwood reiterated the same message when she featured this corset in her Portrait collection in 1990.

It is important to note, as Steele stresses, that "Corsetry was not one monolithic, unchanging experience that all unfortunate women experienced before being liberated by feminism" (1). Her book debunks the myth that corsets were entirely enforced by a patriarchal society. The experience of wearing a garment is subjective and this monolithic, oppressive view positions women as uniformly passive and oppressed. Steele shows that many arguments about corsetry being detrimental to the health of the wearer do not hold up to scrutiny as corsets could not have caused all the health issues and illnesses some claimed they did (68). In the case of Westwood reclaiming the corset, she wishes to retire the oppressive myth of corsetry, and celebrate it as a garment of female power and liberation, as demonstrated by her naming the corset in the Harris Tweed collection 'Stature of Liberty.'

The Portrait Collection, 1990

In the documentary Why I Love the Wallace about The Wallace Collection, which owns the Boucher painting she printed on the corset, Vivienne Westwood said:

"All my ideas come from studying the ideas of the past. There is a link between art and fashion. I couldn't design a thing if I didn't look at art."

One of Westwood's favoured sources of inspiration is The Wallace Collection, in London, which is known for its extensive collection of 18th-century decorative arts and paintings. For Westwood, it represents a high point of culture from 18th Century Britain which she wanted to celebrate and therefore, she based the Portrait collection on it (Westwood).

Fashion in the 1980s and 90s saw a revival of 18th-century society in popular culture (Dorogova). Fully embracing the taste and style of The Wallace Collection, Westwood styled her models entirely on 18th-century paintings. For example, models wore pearl accessories as though they may have just stepped out of the paintings (Dorgova). Westwood was keen to include an actual painting in her collection, thus she printed Boucher's Daphnis and Chloe painting onto the corset.

Never one to play it safe, Westwood included two models who kissed on the runway (Fig. 8), just as Daphnis and Chloe seem poised to do. As Westwood once said in an interview, "I play around with the idea of sexuality because I don't like orthodoxy in any shape or form." (Westwood). The models were dressed in the corset, thus building on the ideas of the Portrait collection corset being a metaphor for female liberation.

The painting Daphnis and Chloe, Shepherd Watching a Sleeping Shepherdess by François Boucher (Fig. 9) caused quite a stir when it was first debuted due to its intimate depiction of Daphnis and Chloe from Longus' novel of the same name.

Written in the Roman Empire, the Ancient Greek novel tells the story of Daphnis and Chloe who were both abandoned at birth. Chloe was found by Dryas, a shepherd, and Lamon, a goatherd, discovers Daphnis. Growing up together, Daphnis and Chloe fall in love, however they can't comprehend what their feelings are. Various characters pitch in to try and help Daphnis and Chloe make sense of their feelings. One character suggests the cure is kissing. Whilst another explains love making to Daphnis, including details of the discomfort and bleeding Chloe may experience. These details put Daphnis off engaging in such activities with Chloe. Time passes during which Daphnis and Chloe are separated. Chloe is courted by suitors and Daphnis is abducted by pirates. Recognising them, Daphnis and Chloe's birth parents come to the rescue and return them to safety. Chloe and Daphnis reunite and get married, living out the rest of their lives happily together.

For her corset, Vivienne Westwood honed in on the erotic section of the painting. Westwood's corset, featuring Daphnis and Chloe in lust, leaves a memorable impression of the subversion of a garment which no longer confines women, but liberates them.

The corset is now a regular feature on the runway, arguably as a result of Westwood's innovative use of the historic garment. Many fashion designers continue to use the corset in their collections (Figs. 10, 11). Westwood's original period corset from 1990 also continues to be worn and celebrated as a breakthrough fashion moment of the twentieth century. In figure 12 it is worn by the singer-songwriter FKA Twigs in 2019. No longer is female sexuality concealed and eschewed, instead Westwood brings it to the fore, celebrating it by subverting the purpose of this historical garment. As Steele wrote, "the meaning of any item of clothing is not embedded in the clothing itself; it's something we create and are constantly renegotiating" (Bramley). This is certainly true for Westwood's corset.

References:

Bramley, Ellie Violet. "Let Loose: How the Corset Is Being Reclaimed by the Fashion Industry." The Guardian, April 1, 2017. http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2017/apr/01/corset-new-female-power-suit-vivienne-westwood-madonna-miuccia-prada.

Dorogova, Waleria, "Ensemble from the "Portrait" Collection, Vivienne Westwood Ready-to-Wear, Fall/Winter 1990-1991", Fashion Photography Archive, London: Bloomsbury, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781474260428-FPA177

Kendall, Zoë, "How Corsets Took Over the World", i-D, 2020. https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/wxq8v5/how-corsets-took-over-the-world

Longus, Daphnis and Chloe, Penguin Classics, England: Penguin Books, 1989. https://www.worldcat.org/title/daphnis-and-chloe/oclc/1129638322&referer=brief_results

"Painted Ladies", Channel 4 Documentary, 1996, Part 1: "Nobility, Virtue and Nobility", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyswGKKhdAw Part 2: "Aesthetic Lust", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlkTluY-e_c Part 3: "Luxury and Frivolity," https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MlIkXdlOjc

Steele, Valerie, The Corset: A Cultural History, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2011. https://www.worldcat.org/title/corset-a-cultural-history/oclc/993523680&referer=brief_results

"The Corset in Late 20th Century Fashion", The Victoria and Albert Museum, http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-corset-in-late-20th-century-fashion/

Vivienne Westwood: Why I Love the Wallace. Video. The Wallace Collection, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_-XK5WaZEo

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1990 - Vivienne Westwood, "Portrait Collection" Corset

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Vivienne Westwood's 1990 corset from her "Portrait Collection" took an 18th-century painting and garment type and updated them to the 20th century. She emphasized the erotic power of the form, but employed more modern, flexible materials to improve comfort. Vivienne Westwood is known for her reinterpretations of past fashions, subverting their purpose and bringing them into the current era.

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Tracing back the controversial history of a garment that began centuries before Regencycore hit 63 million households this Christmas.

According to social shopping services such as Like To Know It and Lyst, searches for corsets have increased by more than 100 per cent since Netflix's Bridgerton aired on Christmas Day. New data from eBay shows that 39 per cent more of us are in the market for a vintage piece inspired by the Regency-era romp, too. With a reported 63 million household views already, the series has spawned its own niche fashion trend - ' Regencycore ', which encompasses all manner of ruffles, empire lines, elbow-length gloves and pearl-encrusted headbands. Binding it all together? Corsetry.

This recent renaissance can be attributed to more than the obvious period dramas. Last summer saw Instagram-worshipped celebrities such as Hailey Bieber and Dua Lipa embrace the ' summer corset', too. But as we all know, the tradition of waist-cinching stems back much further than that.
The not-so-humble boned corset - simply structured with rigid lines and a bodice laced together in order to shape the torso - has a wildly controversial history. Long derided as a patriarchal instrument of torture that deformed the female body, historians now argue that there was no one experience of wearing a corset and that some women may even have found them positive.

Read more: Shop The 10 Key Winter 2021 Fashion Trends

Corsets were worn by women - and sometimes men - in the Western world from the 16th to the early 20th century, although corset-like garments can be traced as far back as 1600 BC. What began as a close-fitting sleeveless bodice evolved into an undergarment with stays made of whalebone, and then steel, that encircled the ribs and compressed the natural waist. The shape of the corset evolved over the centuries, alternating between longer varieties that covered the hips and shorter versions that centred on the waistline. Corsets helped shape the body into distinctive silhouettes, from the hourglass shape popular in the 1800s to the "S" figure of the 1900s.

Discussions about the corset being detrimental to women's health came to a head in the 19th century, when the popularity of the corset was at its peak. Available in a wide variety of price points, corsets were worn by upper and middle-class women and, increasingly, by working-class women as well. Some doctors blamed the corset for respiratory diseases, deformity to the ribs, damage to internal organs, birth defects, and miscarriages, while others approved of "moderate" or "health" corsets that were less rigid and helped support the body. Fashion historians Valerie Steele and Colleen Gau have argued that while corseted women may indeed have suffered from depleted lung volume and changes in breathing patterns, this would not necessarily have led to respiratory diseases. It may have caused fainting and lowered vitality, though. Steele also argues that examples of tight lacing, or the practice of fastening corsets to create the smallest possible waist, cannot be taken at face value. The letters, descriptions, and images that describe this practice may have represented sexual fantasies, she says, rather than descriptions of authentic experiences.

The invention of elastic in the 1920s gave rise to flexible sports corsets, used by women attracted to a new, active lifestyle. However, ads for corsets and articles about the newest corset styles appear in Vogue throughout the early 20th century, showing that women still sought these external garments to shape and support their body alongside girdles, compression underwear and brassieres. With the shift towards sport and healthy lifestyles in the 1960s and 1970s, the corset as an undergarment was abandoned, but its focus was already internalised. Instead of relying on a garment, women turned to diet, exercise and plastic surgery to shape their bodies and trim their waists.

Today, more severe corsets are still worn by enthusiasts and as part of fetishistic, cross-dressing and burlesque practices; and while they may no longer be part of the average woman's everyday routine, they have never truly disappeared from fashion.

In the 1970s, Vivienne Westwood began using corsets as part of her historicist punk aesthetic; imagining her corsets to empower women rather than bind them. Jean-Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler incorporated corsets into their designs in the 1980s, and who can forget Madonna making Gaultier's pink satin corset famous during her 1990 Blond Ambition tour? Since then, Stella McCartney, Yves Saint Laurent, Tom Ford, and Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga have all experimented with corsets or corset-like tailoring in their designs, sometimes layering corsetry over garments rather than under them, subverting the piece from underwear to outerwear. Always holding court in fashion photography, too, corsets have evolved from patriarchal into a symbol of free female sexuality, arguably coming full circle by being depicted in modern period dramas that centre the characters of women, such as Bridgerton and The Great. Like all good things, they had an arduous journey to get there.

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The Corset's Recurring Comeback Goes Further Than 'Bridgerton'

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Vogue traces the history of the corset, from constrictive 16th-century underwear to modern catwalk trend, to Madonna's famous Jean Paul Gaultier corset and more recently, the corset costumes in Netflix series 'Bridgerton'.

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Good & Bad PR 3 minute read
Good PR Lush lullaby
You may or may not be familiar with the high-street cosmetics and bath/body supplies retailer Lush. If you aren't, it's that shop that you walk past that instantly gives you the worst headache you've had in years, thanks to the overwhelming combinations of sweet smells spilling out the entrance. Know the one now? Yep, thought so.

Well, this week Lush has had some pretty sweet PR coverage, after a mum from Essex appeared on the Daily Mail website claiming that an £8 bottle of lotion she'd bought from the retailer helped her baby daughter sleep for 14 solid hours.

Her 18-month-old would often wake five or six times a night and be up playing when she should've been sleeping, making life tricky for her mum who had to work in the day. After going in to Lush and asking for help, she was directed to the 'Sleepy' body lotion, which is made from oatmeal, lavender and tonka bean.

Since applying some to her daughter before bedtime, she's hailed the cream a 'miracle' and said it's worked wonders. Her daughter now allegedly sleeps solidly through the night for up to 14 hours. The cream was already popular with adults with sleeping difficulties, but was intended initially as a holiday special. Lush brought it back to the shelves due to high demand and it quickly sold out.

The story did the rounds on the Mail Online, Metro, Mirror and parenting sites like Made For Mums. It's also popped up on discussion boards on the likes of Mumsnet forums and also had some non-parenting coverage on places like Cosmo, just for how awesome it is at helping people to sleep.
Bad PR Camelot calamity
The National Lottery's PR team had a crisis on its hands this week, after a Twitter campaign it launched was hijacked by trolls. Camelot came up with a way to thank fans who retweeted messages of support for the British athletics team, in a social media campaign using the hashtag #REPRESENT.

Names of people who retweeted messages of support and used the hashtag would then appear on the boards being held up by people from the athletics team, with a 'thanks for your support' message below.

However, these pictures were very quickly edited and shared around Twitter with really vile messages relating to Jimmy Saville, Madeleine McCann, the Hillsborough Tragedy and Thatcher. Hackers shared the images from the official National Lottery Twitter account, prompting the team to tweet a message at around 2am telling followers it was aware of what had happened and was looking into it. This was later followed by an apology and a message to say it had regained control of the account.

People are comparing it to the disastrous Walkers Crisp 'Wave' Twitter campaign starring Gary Lineker, where people could upload a selfie for the chance to wine Champions League final tickets, which would then be featured in a short video clip. The film shows Lineker looking over at the photo he appears to be holding, saying "nice selfie" and thanking the user. The only thing is, people were uploading pictures of people like Fred West, Rolf Harris and Jimmy Savile.

This just goes to show that any Twitter campaign has the potential to go spectacularly wrong, thanks to hackers and people who have nothing better to do then wreak havoc, so it's worth thinking about what could go wrong and having a plan in place should that happen.

Written by Shannon Peerless, 10 Yetis @ShazzaYeti on Twitter
Seen any good or bad PR lately? You know what to do@10Yetis on Twitter or andy@10Yetis.co.uk on email

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Good and Bad PR: Lush PR for Lush, catastrophic... | PRmoment.com

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Good & Bad PR 3 minute read Good PR Lush lullaby You may or may not be familiar with the high-street cosmetics and bath/body supplies retailer Lush. If you aren't, it's that shop that you walk past that instantly gives you the worst headache you've had in years, thanks to the overwhelming combinations of sweet smells spilling out the entrance.

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In-Depth Marketing Strategy of Lush - A Case Study | IIDE

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Ever wondered what makes Lush such a huge success? Click here to learn about its marketing mix, marketing strategy, and competitor analysis.

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We have often talked about the cosmetics brand Lush as an example of customer experience. Today we propose an analysis of the Lush marketing mix. We will follow the 7P method, the steps of which you will find in our marketing mix analysis grids.

The product

The product is the cornerstone of Lush's marketing strategy. Its marketing positioning is based on the promise of natural, "fresh" products (this notion being relatively vague) and not tested on animals. The marketing mix is therefore naturally expressed through all the attributes of the products.

Lush's branding is that of a brand that wants to bring joy and positive energy to its customers. The products are therefore very colorful to convey this value.

Packaging is a central element of the product marketing mix. A unique, minimalist jar design is used for the creams. The date of manufacture and the identity of the person who made it are shown on the packaging. In addition to being a differentiating element that proves the artisanal and fresh character of the products, the label is almost a collector's item because we want to know the people behind the products.

The packaging is also a way to prove the commitment to nature. It is indeed reduced to the maximum for the solid products, and for the creams, the jars used are minimalist and reusable. A recycling program exists, which allows you to get a free product if you bring back 5 empty jars.

The price

The pricing strategy followed by Lush is based on the value perceived by the customer. Product prices are fixed, but degressive pricing is applied according to the size of the container. The higher the volume of product purchased for the same product, the lower the price per liter/kilo.

Temporary discounts are granted at particular times of the year but remain the exception. For the online channel, promotional offers are more often given, especially during Black Friday.

Communication

Lush's communication efforts take the form of street marketing or guerrilla marketing rather than traditional advertising.

The store window is an important communication channel in this respect. The photo below is an example of the freedom given to store managers to transmit messages that correspond to the brand's DNA. The image below was taken in Montpellier (France), where the store manager displayed a slightly provocative message in the window.

Lush concentrates its communication efforts on online channels and, here again, conveys its values around ethics and transparency. You will find on YouTube many videos produced by Lush that show you how the products are made. You can see how the products are made by hand using natural products. Far from the aseptic world of the factories of the world's cosmetic giants, we discover in these videos an artisanal process that is more about craftsmanship than chemistry. These videos are therefore intended to "reassure."

The distribution

Lush products are only distributed through the brand's boutiques. It is, therefore, an owner distribution network. E-commerce has also developed thanks to the Covid-19 crisis.

Lush's marketing mix is very much based on people. The employees' joie de vivre is also expressed online in the videos that the brand broadcasts on social networks, such as in this video on making an eggplant-shaped soap. Credits: Lush via YouTube.

People

People are really at the center of the customer experience proposed by Lush. Lush's employees are a central part of its marketing mix, so prominent that they become a driver of loyalty.

The selection and training process is extraordinary because employees have a joie de vivre and empathy unique to Lush. No other brand can claim to instill such a joie de vivre through its employees.
What is also characteristic of the brand is that employees can indeed "be themselves" at work. Tattoos and piercings are out where they would otherwise be hidden.

This joie de vivre is also transmitted online. Some Lush employees present videos to show the process behind the scenes. Gilda (see video above), for example, is generating waves of positive comments on YouTube. The screenshot below shows that the employees' positive attitude and cheerfulness are transmitted to the customers.

The processes

As explained here, the "process" part of the marketing mix is concerned with the processes related to customer service. We will distinguish between offline and online processes.

Online processes

Customer requests are handled by the customer service department of the country where the product was purchased. The responsibilities are, therefore, territorial.
The online customer service answers requests for information. However, in case of problems, the customer is asked to go back to the store where they made the purchase.

Offline process

A lot of freedom is given to the store managers regarding customer service. A little like communication, a pragmatic approach is always favored to satisfy the customer. For example, it is enough to kindly request a free sample of a product to be offered to you.

The physical environment

This aspect of the marketing mix is another crucial element of the Lush strategy. Lush stores are a place where people enjoy going because their senses are stimulated. Lush applies all the sensory marketing trade tricks to create a unique customer experience in its sales outlets.

Lush plays a lot on the senses to make its customers buy. The English brand is a champion of sensory marketing. A visit to a Lush store awakens all the senses:

Visual: the colorful products create a unique visual atmosphere. The colored soaps and bath bombs offer a strong color contrast with the black packaging.

Olfactory: like Abercrombie & Fitch, we can speak of an olfactory signature of Lush. This is recognizable from the street where the scents of soaps, shampoos, and other bath bombs are mixed.

Auditory: the joy and energy of the brand is also characterized by the music that is played in the sales outlet

The materials used in the sales outlet are in the image of the brand: natural. There is a lot of raw wood and bare brick walls.
Tags: market research europe

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Marketing mix: analysis of the cosmetics brand Lush

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We have often talked about the cosmetics brand Lush as an example of customer experience. Today we propose an analysis of the Lush marketing mix. We will follow the 7P method, the steps of which you will find in our marketing mix analysis grids. The product is the cornerstone of Lush's marketing strategy.

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Lush is quitting social media. The start of a trend?

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The British cosmetics brand is leaving four of the major social platforms. Experts weigh the potential risks and rewards.

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Lush is becoming anti-social

Lush turns its back on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat

Until they take action to provide a safer environment for users

Lush have finally had enough, in light of Facebook whistleblower

All Lush brand, retail and people accounts, around the world will be closing

Promises to invest in new ways to connect and build better communication channels elsewhere.

26th November 2021: Global

From 26th November 2021, the global Lush brand will be turning its back on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat, until the platforms take action to provide a safer environment for users. This policy is rolling out across all the 48 countries where Lush operates.

In the same way that evidence against climate change was ignored and belittled for decades, concerns about the serious effects of social media are going largely ignored now. Lush is taking matters into its own hands and addressing the issues now, not waiting around until others believe in the problem before changing its own behaviour.

Company statement:

Like so many teenagers have experienced before us, Lush has tried to come off social media, but our FOMO is vast, and our compulsion to use the various platforms means we find ourselves back on there, despite our best intentions.

So here we are again, trying to go cold (plant-based) turkey.

Having previously attempted this in 2019, our resolve has been strengthened by all the latest information from courageous whistleblowers, which clearly lays out the known harms that young people are exposed to because of the current algorithms and loose regulation of this new area of our lives.

As an inventor of bath bombs, I pour all my efforts into creating products that help people switch off, relax and pay attention to their wellbeing. Social media platforms have become the antithesis of this aim, with algorithms designed to keep people scrolling and stop them from switching off and relaxing.

Jack Constantine, CDO & Product Inventor

We wouldn't ask our customers to meet us down a dark and dangerous alleyway - but some social media platforms are beginning to feel like places no one should be encouraged to go. Something has to change. We hope that platforms will introduce strong best practice guidelines, and we hope that international regulation will be passed into law. But we can't wait. We feel forced to take our own action to shield our customers from the harm and manipulation they may experience whilst trying to connect with us on social media.

So Lush will be signing out from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, until these platforms can provide a safer environment for their users.

I've spent all my life avoiding putting harmful ingredients in my products. There is now overwhelming evidence we are being put at risk when using social media. I'm not willing to expose my customers to this harm, so it's time to take it out of the mix

Mark Constantine OBE, Co-Founder, CEO & Product Inventor

Lush promises not to be completely anti-social. We will do all we can to find new ways to connect, to build better channels of communication elsewhere, as well as using the older tried and tested routes. For now we can still be found on Twitter and YouTube - no need to click Like, Subscribe or Get Notifications, people can just pop along to check us out when they fancy. See here for a full list of where you can find us.

We've always got a lot to say, but when we climb onto a soapbox we like it to be safe.

For further information and for any interview requests please contact [email protected]

To keep up to date and be the first to know about further exciting Lush announcements, subscribe to the Lush Newsletter.

You can find further information on Lush's Digital Ethics here

Notes to Editors

When social turns sour

Lush has always been a social brand, finding unique ways to communicate directly with customers. From the trailblazing catalogues of CTG back in the 90s and the hugely popular Lush Times newspapers, to the very early customer forum and our quick adoption of social media when it was first developed - Lush's goal has always been to interact with those who love our products and to listen to what they have to say to us.

Lush has also always been about advocating wellbeing. "We believe in long candlelit baths, sharing showers, massage, and filling the world with perfume" is part of our mission statement and at the core of our very purpose as a business.

When it gets to a point that our customers' wellbeing is being put in jeopardy because of the channels on which we are trying to connect with them, then something doesn't sit right for us. We believe that tech should be built for the greater good and impact positive social change, and have campaigned for this over the years.

2016

On Black Friday in 2016 Lush worked with digital rights organisation Access Now on their global #KeepItOn campaign to fight government ordered internet shutdowns. The #Error404 bath bomb raised £250,000 for a Digital Fund to support Access Now, but also global grassroots digital activists fighting to keep the internet free, open and safe.

2018

Then in 2018, in light of Facebook declaring that 29 million users' data had been leaked because of a bug, Lush created and sold a limited edition tote bag at The Next Web 2018 conference with the slogan "What the Zuck?" Proceeds went into the Lush Digital fund, supporting tech for good initiatives globally.

2019

At The Next Web 2019 conference, Lush partnered with Bits of Freedom, a digital rights organisation based in the Netherlands "focused on privacy and freedom of communication online." Lush made and sold a tote bag with the slogan "Take CTRL" to create awareness and encourage people to make conscious choices in the way they use, choose and consume technology. The proceeds from these limited edition bags sold at the event went to Bits of Freedom to support their mission to build a new digital toolbox to inform and empower people to become a more conscious consumer of technology.

Didn't Lush attempt this before?

In 2019, Lush UK stopped posting to Instagram and Facebook due to increasing concerns over how much control these big platforms had on how many people, and which people, saw anything we posted. This interaction is controlled for no other reason than to extract profit for themselves, and the idea that a main route of communication with our customers could be regulated by a third party was worrying.

2020

With the unprecedented arrival of the global pandemic in 2020 and people locked down all over the world leaning heavily on all the features of the internet to keep going, we decided to bring back some limited use of the channels we had mothballed, to offer the only possible service to our customers we had.

On 15th September 2020, during lockdown, Lush also partnered with IAMWHOLE and Zoe Sugg in Digital Detox Day - to advocate for putting our devices down for one whole day and to focus on our mental health. The campaign was a huge success, with hundreds of thousands taking part around the world - however feedback to IAW from teens trying to detox from their tech highlighted just how hard it was. Anxiety, FOMO and phantom alerts all contributed towards many not being able to stay off line for more than a few hours.

2021

Then in 2021 came the Facebook Files and numerous whistleblower accounts from ex-Facebook employees exposing internal research papers proving Facebook know the very real harms being caused on their platform, but are choosing not to act.

We at Lush don't want to wait for better worldwide regulations or for the platforms to introduce best practice guidelines, while a generation of young people are growing up experiencing serious and lasting harm. Now is the right time to find better ways to connect without putting our customers in harm's way.

It is not enough for companies to just stop placing paid advertising; people and their time are the currency of these channels and we do not want our content to be used by hidden algorithms designed to hold people captive on a channel.

About Lush

When it comes to cosmetics, Lush is known for doing things differently. Whether it's by inventing new products that reduce unnecessary packaging, driving campaigns that reveal untold stories or by raising the bar of what a retail experience can look and feel like. In essence, Lush aims to give more than it takes from society and the environment. And in a world where technology has become an essential part of every business, it is only natural Lush drives best practice when it comes to digital ethics.

Tech doesn't have to be unethical; it can be built for the greater good and impact positive social change. We at Lush want a world where Fresh Handmade Tech is built for regeneration, not destruction. We're ready to start a digital revolution.

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Lush is becoming anti-social - We are Lush

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Lush is becoming anti-social Lush turns its back on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat Until they take action to provide a safer environment for users Lush have finally had enough, in light of Facebook whistleblower All Lush brand, retail and people accounts, around the world will be closing Promises to invest in new ways to connect and build better communication channels elsewhere.

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Since establishing 25 years ago, Lush has been driven by innovation and its ethics. Our PR Newsroom is full to the brim with press releases featuring all of our latest campaign news and product announcements, be it bath bombs, haircare, skincare, makeup or packaging that fights climate change.

Get a cuppa and dive right in!

Got a question for the Lush PR team? Please email [email protected]

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Since establishing 25 years ago, Lush has been driven by innovation and its ethics. Our PR Newsroom is full to the brim with press releases featuring all of our latest campaign news and product announcements, be it bath bombs, haircare, skincare, makeup or packaging that fights climate change.

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For example, I'd seen following headlines from The Drum and Marketing Week respectively delivered to my inbox: "Lush is the new anti-social gangster, and for good reason" and "Lush's social media exodus is a risk too far."

Congratulations Lush, you are 2019's Yanny and Laurel. So let's keep the hype machine loaded with a later, and probably overly-long, lukewarm take.

Behind any internet phenomenon is always a slightly more complex explanation. Assuming the announcement wasn't just a stunt - and Lush have form in this area - then it's perfectly possible to say that yes, Lush has done a good job of tapping into a sentiment against social media from both marketers and consumers. Yes, they are taking a big risk. Yes, it's a brave and bold move - and no, it probably won't kill branded social media accounts as we know it.

It's worth picking apart some of Lush's main points. There's a lot to admire, and a lot to be confused about, especially as Lush themselves appear to conflate several different aspects of social media in their cross-channel posting that read like it was written by a slightly grumpy strategist who'd yet to have their morning coffee, decided whatever the job was that morning, it wasn't worth it, and somehow the note slipped through into policy.

We've probably all dreamed of being that strategist one day.

Won't pay, won't pay

Let's start with Lush's initial point that they were fed up of paying to both produce and distribute content through social, at the whims of Zuckerberg, et al.

"We are tired of fighting with algorithms, and we do not want to pay to appear in your newsfeed. So we've decided it's time to bid farewell to some of our social channels and open up the conversation between you and us instead.⁣"

There's a lot to like here, including a level of honesty. Plenty of brands still churn out significant volumes full of very average content that nobody wants and few people see - unless they then add a few more pounds to the budget.

In essence, a lot of brands are already spending a lot of money on digital landfill, with no discernible effect:

The content is likely to be too bland to cut through

The distribution and targeting isn't done at enough scale to shift brand awareness

The actual content isn't salesy enough to push the consumer to the bottom end of the funnel.

This isn't to say that branded content, and especially branded social content, is a waste of time. Some is exceptionally well-executed, with audience and objective in mind, and have a robust measurement team in place who can demonstrate meaningful results. And, to be fair to Lush, their content is generally well-executed and often has clear objectives (and I don't have sight of their results to pass judgement on the last point).

For these brands and advertisers, it's understandable that social media is a point of contention. A lot of strategies I've written and seen emphasise less, not more social media, and flag other channels as equally, if not more, deserving of the budget. (That said, I've also written and seen strategies that make a compelling reason for always-on social.)

And who wouldn't want to cut out the middleman and speak direct to consumers? It's amazing how often email seems to be one of marketing's hot discoveries of 2019. Building your own platform to own your customer data is rarely a bad idea.

But it still requires numbers. And even though Lush say only 6% of their followers are served their content in their newsfeeds, will they hit the equivalent numbers on Lush Player?

Perhaps they may even reach fewer people who'll watch for longer, which may ultimately be more valuable than 6% of people watching for three seconds.

Customer first?

What is confusing is that, having said they want to open up the conversation with their community, they then announce that quitting social actually means quitting customer service on social.

"Over the next week, our customer care team will be actively responding to your messages and comments, after this point you can speak us via live chat on the website, on email at wecare@lush.co.uk and by telephone: 01202 930051.⁣⁣ This isn't the end, it's just the start of something new.⁣ #LushCommunity - see you there."

This is where I have slightly more of an issue with Lush's decision to pull away from social. Social media marketing and social media customer service are not the same thing; even if they have an impact on each other. They're often run by different departments - with different budgets and different objectives.

You can waste your budget producing dreadful content that nobody will ever see or care about, and can still have a highly efficient and cost-effective team servicing customers through social media that delivers tangible ROI for that department.

The cash saving is probably not insignificant for Lush. The overall customer experience, however, will be poorer in the short-term. Email and phone have their uses as service channels, especially for complex queries, but if even a proportion of their 569,000+ followers on Instagram regularly use social for customer service, then it becomes problematic and ceases to be a customer-friendly solution.

Again, the sentiment of not being overly-reliant on social media may be right, even if the proposed remedy isn't. Especially for the slightly frazzled, time-poor consumer who just wants to speak to somebody NOW about a simple issue, without having to wait for an email, or use up precious minutes sitting on hold.

Cutting out the middle man

The last part of Lush's puzzle is setting up its own platform to communicate direct to their customers. It's not clear what form this will take, but it does tick a lot of best practice boxes.

Ownership of customer data? Tick.

Direct 1-to-1 communication with their most ardent and loyal fans? Tick.

Control over distribution of message? Tick.

Not reliant on social platforms changing their process with little warning? Tick.

Reach and scale of message?
Hang on a moment.
There's a lot to commend in investing your budget in your own platform. As a long term play, it gives you a lot more control over your message and the levers you can pull to support marketing activity.

However, for a retail-based brand such as Lush, there's one major problem; namely building your own platform tends to be more effective as a retention ploy.

This isn't a sector such as travel, automotive or insurance, where first party data can be used to target and convert prospects, or take existing customers and target them intelligently at a big ticket repurchase point. No, at the end of the day, Lush need to keep selling more bath bombs, cosmetics and beauty treatments on a regular basis.

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Why Lush quitting social media was full of contradictions - Digital Drum

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For example, I'd seen following headlines from The Drum and Marketing Week respectively delivered to my inbox: "Lush is the new anti-social gangster, and for good reason" and "Lush's social media exodus is a risk too far." Congratulations Lush, you are 2019's Yanny and Laurel.

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You've landed at Lush Labs, where innovation and experimentation come as standard

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Single mother whose daughter woke six times a night claims £8 'miracle' lotion helps her toddler sleep up to 14 HOURS uninterrupted

Parris Chloee from Essex swears by £7.95 cult cream from Lush

Daughter Ava Hayley, 18 months, would be awake playing most of night

Made from oatmeal, lavender and tonka bean it promises good night's sleep

Parris said putting cream on Ava Hayley means she now sleeps through night

A mum of an energetic tot who was woken up six times a night claims she's discovered a 'miracle' that could end exhausted parents' sleepless nights - a lotion that helped her baby sleep up to 14 hours uninterrupted.

Parris Chloee, from Romford, Essex, had just started working as a support worker but was struggling to get by as toddler Ava-Hayley, 18 months, woke up five or six times every night.

The drained mum claims that in desperation she went into Lush and said 'please help me', and found herself leaving with their 'Sleepy' body lotion, originally designed as a holiday special but now proving a huge hit with sleepless adults.

Sleepy hit the headlines this week when it emerged that it had sold out after being reintroduced to stores with shoppers hailing it as 'magic'.

Parris also swears by the £7.95 cream, made with oatmeal, lavender and tonka bean, for babies and claims it is so effective even she begins to nod off while rubbing it into the baby.

Parris said: 'I'd go as far to say the lotion is a miracle, especially for me as a working mum.

'I'm a support worker and I work long hours - sometimes up to 15 hours a day - so I need to be getting sleep.

'Ava-Hayley is 18 months old and she used to sleep really badly.

'It had been getting to the stage where I needed to move her into a travel cot because she'd be climbing out of her cot into bed with me and picking me eyes open in the middle of the night.

'I'm a single working mum and I was really sleep deprived.

'I'd tried everything and one day I went into Lush and just said "please, you've got to help me".

'The lotion is really good. It's very surprising because I never thought anything would work.'

Now Parris claims she has enough time to work and enjoy playing with her baby girl when she gets home, whereas before she was struggling through the day on little sleep.

Parris said: 'Ava-Hayley would usually go to bed at 7pm and get up two or three times on a good night. It would often be five or six.

'She would just be up, wide awake and playing in the night. It wasn't even for milk or attention and I'd have to be up with her the whole time.

'She'd climb out of the cot and run around the house. It's amazing how the cream has really worked - now she's sleeping from around 7pm to 9am.

'It smells really strongly of lavender. Even I start to feel sleepy when I'm rubbing it into her.

'We have exactly the same routine - she'll eat her dinner, I'll run her a bath and she'll be in there for about 15 minutes playing, then I'll clean her, put her pyjamas on and say goodnight.

'I obviously go to bed much later, but when I go in to check her on she's fast asleep. Then when I go in around 11pm, switch the light on and get ready for bed myself, she doesn't even wake up.

'I had been starting to worry about what to do. I needed sleep for work and she'd be waking up so much.

'The tub is £8 which is a lot of money for single mums on a budget, but it's worth it. It's the best £8 I've ever spent.

'I'm used to getting up and running out to work without sleep. I'd only just gone back and it was taking its toll on my body.

'Now I wake up and I'm not even tired. I'm much happier and so is Ava-Hayley.

'She still has her nap during the day and she's smiling more. Before she'd wake up in a really bad mood because she wasn't rested.

'She'll get out of bed and want to play straight away.

'I don't know what they've put in it and I don't know how it works, but I've had to call them to put another tub away for me because they're selling out so fast.

'If someone told me about this a few months ago I wouldn't believe them, but it's amazing.'

The purple lotion was originally released last year as a special edition product and many customers have claimed it helped to 'cure' their insomnia.

Now Lush have brought back the product permanently and this week people have been clearing out their shelves.

Fans took to the review section of the Lush website, as well as Reddit, in their droves to comment on the power of the lavender flower and sweet tonka absolute-infused lotion.

One user revealed: 'I sleep so much better with this body lotion. It's so moisturising and has an amazing smell. Definitely my new favourite!'.

Another claimed it helped calm her nerves, too: 'I used to take anxiety medication for 11 years and had to stop recently which was pretty terrible. But I found that using and smelling Sleepy can help my anxiety not be as bad.'

Others hailed it the one product that can actually help them through the worst of their nights, and others simply dubbed it 'magic'.

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Mother claims £8 Lush lotion helps daughter sleep 14 hours

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Parris Chloee from Essex swears by £7.95 cult cream from Lush Daughter Ava Hayley, 18 months, would be awake playing most of night Made from oatmeal, lavender and tonka bean it promises good night's sleep Parris said putting cream on Ava Hayley means she now sleeps through night A mum of an energetic tot who was woken up six times a night claims she's discovered a 'miracle' that could end exhausted parents' sleepless nights - a lotion that helped her baby sleep up to 14 hours uninterrupted.

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A cosmetics company has sparked outrage over an ad campaign that claims police have been "paid to lie".

Lush said it was raising awareness of what it calls the "ongoing undercover policing scandal".

In a provocative press release, it claims undercover officers have "infiltrated the lives, homes and beds of activists".

The Poole-based firm said its campaign, controversially called SpyCops, "aims to highlight the current lack of progress of the Undercover Policing Inquiry and the granting of anonymity to key police witnesses".

The chain's shop windows have been decorated with police tape, saying: "Police have crossed the line."

A split image of a man, one half with a police helmet on, another without the helmet, has the tagline "paid to lie".

Activists have been "spied on for taking a stand", a video released by the company claims.

The campaign has sparked a negative reaction on social media, with more than 30 complaints submitted to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The ASA said it would not be taking action as the campaign was outside its remit.

John Duncan tweeted that the campaign was "misguided at best, nasty at worst".

Lush had shown "terrible judgment", Tom Sleigh said.

An inquiry into undercover policing was launched in 2015.

It is looking at the work of the Special Demonstration Squad, the National Public Order Intelligence Unit and police forces across England and Wales.

It is expected to begin hearing evidence next year, and will continue to do so for around two years.

The year before the inquiry began, a report found that 17 families were spied on by undercover police officers who operated unchecked and by their own rules.

It has been claimed that undercover police officers working for the Metropolitan Police assumed the identities of dead children and were issued fake passports in their names.

Responding to Lush's campaign, the inquiry said it was "wholly independent of the police and has the authority to investigate any aspect of undercover policing, from 1968 to the present day".

It added that while its work would be "rigorous and objective", there would be times when it was not possible to hear evidence in public, in cases where "to do so would give rise to a risk of harm to an individual".

Lush said it was not running an "anti-state/anti-police campaign".

"This campaign is not about the real police work done by those frontline officers who support the public every day," it added.

"This public inquiry needs help from the public to keep it on track and ensure that this one opportunity for full honesty and disclosure is not lost or squandered."

Pressure group Police Spies Out of Lives, which worked with Lush on the campaign, said it was "flabbergasted that people think we are talking about all police officers".

It added: "We are talking about the undercover police officers... the picture used is a model, and it is meant to signify the two-faced nature of these officers."

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Outrage over Lush ad campaign as cosmetics firm claims police are 'paid to lie'

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A cosmetics company has sparked outrage over an ad campaign that claims police have been "paid to lie". Lush said it was raising awareness of what it calls the "ongoing undercover policing scandal". In a provocative press release, it claims undercover officers have "infiltrated the lives, homes and beds of activists".

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What It’s Like To Work At The “Cult Of Lush” (By An Ex-Lush Employee)

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Stepping into any Lush store is a bit like a fever dream: vibrant, loud and a little overwhelming. Here’s what it’s like to work there, by an ex-employee.

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When you walk into any cosmetics store and see a plethora of bright new products, it can be overwhelming to choose the best products, let alone the right ones for you and your skin.

One way to discover which products are the top choices is to look at the best-sellers and see how they can address your skin concerns and requirements.

First, let's take a look at the six best-selling LUSH skin and hair care products in Australia. We'll get to the top 10 best-selling products overall a little later below.

1. Angels on Bare Skin Fresh Cleanser

This gentle almond meal-based cleanser is designed to calm the skin, while absorbing grease and dirt, and toning and brightening the skin. The solid cleanser, which you mix with water to form a paste, is made from all natural ingredients such as lavender, rose and kaolin, and can be used on both the face and body.

2. Rosy Cheeks Fresh Face Mask

If your skin feels red or inflamed, this fresh face mask helps to calm and restore the skin. Using a blend of kaolin, calamine and Turkish rose oil, these ingredients together delicately remove dirt and tone the face. Simply apply a generous layer of this rosy mask over your face and neck, and relax for 10-15 minutes.

3. Cupcake Fresh Face Mask

This cleansing and clarifying mask is perfect for chocolate and cupcake lovers. Thanks to highly absorbent rhassoul mud, this fresh face mask helps draw out dirt and impurities. The rich cocoa encourages a deeper cleanse (and releases a beautiful scent), while fresh mint stimulates the skin and cocoa butter moisturises.

4. Mask of Magnaminty Mask

This gentle yet energising face and body mask combines peppermint oil to stimulate, marigold oil and chlorophyllin to treat the skin, and evening primrose seeds and aduki beans to gently exfoliate. Use on the face and body to help clean and calm the skin.

5. ​Dream Cream Hand and Body Lotion​

For hot or dry skin, the Dream Cream lotion soothes and hydrates through ingredients like housemade oat milk, rose water, chamomile blue oil, cocoa butter and organic extra virgin olive oil. Thanks to its calming ingredients, many customers use the lotion for eczema relief.

6. ​New Shampoo Bar

Get on the zero waste train with this stimulating and refreshing solid shampoo bar. The cinnamon, clove, nettle and peppermint help to boost blood flow, stimulate the scalp and hair follicles and promote healthy hair, while rosemary soothes and adds shine.

If you're after something other than skincare, here are the overall top best-selling LUSH cosmetics products in Australia. Perhaps not surprisingly, the top 10 products are all colourful, fun bath bombs.

1. Intergalactic Bath Bomb

Channel deep space vibes at bath time with the famous Intergalactic bath bomb. Imagine a mix of energising peppermint and warming vetivert and cedarwood, all the while soaking in a bath full of neon colour, popping candy and swirls of constellations.

2. Sex Bomb Bath Bomb

When you're stressed, tired or anxious, this sensual bomb can come to the rescue. With soothing floral jasmine, clary sage oil and ylang ylang oil, the soft pink bath helps clear the mind and ease everyday stress.

3. The Experimenter Bath Bomb

The Experimenter combines vibrant colours, popping candy, fair trade vanilla and notes of vetivert oil, giving you a technicolor bath experience that revitalises the senses.

4. Dragon's Egg Bath Bomb

For an invigorating yet more muted bath time, the Dragon's Egg turns the colour of the water to a citrusy yellow-gold, combining the scents of jasmine, lemon oil and bergamot -- plus popping candy for a little pop.

5. Sakura Bath Bomb

This pale pink bath bomb is inspired by the cherry blossom in Japan. Spring time inspires calm and optimism, which comes through with its floral fragrance, jasmine oil and lemon and orange flowers.

6. Twilight Bath Bomb

Designed to help promote sleep, the deep purple Twilight bath bomb mixes soothing lavender and ylang ylang with malty, caramely benzoin and tonka. The calming fragrance and colour is a gentle way to unwind and ease into a good night's rest.

7. Avobath Bath Bomb

Ideal for morning times, Avobath uses lemograss and bergamot oils to wake you up and help you face the day. The avocado and olive oil also make this bath bomb perfect for dry, dehydrated skin.

8. Tisty Tosty Bath Bomb

This romantic bath bomb is scented with rose, jasmine, geranium, lemon and floral orris root powder -- and it's studded with real rosebuds, which unfurl as the bath bomb releases its fragrance.

9. Butterball Bath Bomb

Perfect for dry, irritated skin, this bath bomb uses nourishing cocoa butter and ylang ylang to replenish and hydrate the skin. Thanks to cocoa butter, your skin will be left with a moisturising coat of butter.

10. Sunnyside Bubble Bar

Last but not least is the golden Sunnyside bar, which literally turns the water bight, shimmery gold. A blend of sweet wild orange, lemon and tangerine oils help enhance mood and perk you up.

Juliette Steen travelled to London to attend the Lush Summit on behalf of Lush Australia.

ALSO ON HUFFPOST AUSTRALIA

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16 Best-Selling LUSH Products (And What They Do)

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When you walk into any cosmetics store and see a plethora of bright new products, it can be overwhelming to choose the best products, let alone the right ones for you and your skin. One way to discover which products are the top choices is to look at the best-sellers and see how they can address your skin concerns and requirements.

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...but your activity and behavior on this site made us think that you are a bot.

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Skip to main content

Highlights

Revenue in the Skin Care segment amounts to US$145.40bn in 2022. The market is expected to grow annually by 6.28% (CAGR 2022-2026).

In global comparison, most revenue is generated in the United States (US$19,420.00m in 2022).

In relation to total population figures, per person revenues of US$19.11 are generated in 2022.

By 2022, 73% of sales in the Skin Care segment will be attributable to Non-Luxury goods.

Market definition

Skin Care includes cosmetic products designed for care and protection of the skin. These cover all types of creams and lotions for face, hand and foot care as well as sunscreen. The products are not used for decorative purposes. Excluded are skin treatment products with a health focus, e.g. acne treatments, which are shown in the Consumer Market Outlook as part of OTC Pharmaceuticals.

in-scope / out-of-scope

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Skin Care - Worldwide | Statista Market Forecast

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Skip to main content Highlights Revenue in the Skin Care segment amounts to US$145.40bn in 2022. The market is expected to grow annually by 6.28% (CAGR 2022-2026). In global comparison, most revenue is generated in the United States (US$19,420.00m in 2022). In relation to total population figures, per person revenues of US$19.11 are generated in 2022.

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by Josh Howarth
July 20, 2022
You may also like:
The beauty and personal care market is expected to grow annually by 3.12% between 2022 and 2026, with personal care making up the largest segment.

According to McKinsey, in-store shopping accounted for up to 85% of beauty-product purchases before the pandemic, resulting in an up to 30% loss in revenue when lockdowns began.

However, the demand for beauty products has not decreased significantly, only shifted. In their same report, McKinsey states that skincare, nail care, and personal care experienced huge surges during the pandemic.

It follows that beauty startups are trending towards online direct-to-consumer formats, as consumers become more comfortable with online shopping. Another widespread trend among beauty startups is personalized beauty options. Additionally, clean and natural beauty is expected to grow at a faster rate than the rest of the beauty industry, with a projected CAGR of 12.07%.

We've compiled a list of the 30 beauty startups flourishing in this digital era and disrupting the industry. Keep reading to learn more about the key data points on each company

1. Mamaearth

5-year search growth: 9200%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2016

Location: Gurgaon, India

Funding: $110.8M (Series Unknown)

2. Planity

5-year search growth: 99X+

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2016

Location: Paris, France

Funding: $55.7M (Series B)

3. Sallve

5-year search growth: 9800%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2018

Location: São Paulo, Brazil

Funding: $31.8M (Series B)

4. Curology

5-year search growth: 157%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2014

Location: New York, NY

Funding: $35M (Series B)

5. Perfect Corp.

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2014

Location: Taipei, Taiwan

Funding: $100M (Series C)

6. Madison Reed

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2013

Location: San Francisco, California

Funding: $236M (Series Unknown)

7. Billie

5-year search growth: 255%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2017

Location: New York, New York

Funding: $35M (Series A)

8. Tula Skincare

5-year search growth: 445%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2013

Location: New York, New York

Funding: $12.2M (Series Unknown)

9. Versed Skincare

5-year search growth: 6200%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2018

Location: West Hollywood, California

Funding: $11.6M (Series A)

10. Function of Beauty

5-year search growth: 255%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2015

Location: New York, New York

Funding: $247.9M (Series Unknown)

11. ManiMe

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2017

Location: Santa Monica, California

Funding: $8.7M (Series Unknown)

12. Purplle

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2012

Location: Mumbai, India

Funding: $296.3M (Series E)

13. By Humankind

5-year search growth: 414%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2018

Location: New York, New York

Funding: $4M (Seed)

14. The Beard Club

5-year search growth: 155%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2014

Location: Westwood, New Jersey

Funding: Undisclosed

15. Hey Bud Skincare

5-year search growth: 4600%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2018

Location: Melbourne, Australia

Funding: $2M (Angel)

16. ZMirror

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2016

Location: New York, NY

Funding: $74.8M (Series B)

17. Nakedpoppy

5-year search growth: 2000%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2017

Location: San Francisco, California

Funding: $7.8M (Series Unknown)

18. Beautycounter

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2013

Location: Santa Monica, California

Funding: $93.9M (Series Unknown)

19. Quip

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2014

Location: Brooklyn, New York

Funding: $162.2M (Series B)

What they do: Quip offers simple and sustainable oral care product subscriptions. They're best known for their smart electric toothbrush that tracks and coaches better brushing habits. Also included in their product lineup are a refillable mouthwash concentrate, a reusable floss dispenser, and a healthy chewing gum.

20. Deciem

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2013

Location: Toronto, Canada

Funding: Undisclosed

21. Hims

5-year search growth: 1328%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2017

Location: San Francisco, California

Funding: $233.2M (Post-IPO Equity)

22. Shampora

5-year search growth: 3200%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2018

Location: Rome, Italy

Funding: $3.5M (Seed)

What they do: Shampora offers personalized hair care and color products. The startup's proprietary algorithm suggests products to suit specific customer needs. These personalized products are then manufactured in Italy for each customer. All Shampora products are vegan and cruelty-free.

23. Fresha

5-year search growth: 1150%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2015

Location: London, United Kingdom

Funding: $185M (Series C)

24. Nøie

5-year search growth: 1100%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2018

Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

Funding: $12M (Series A)

25. Nutrafol

5-year search growth: 1062%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2014

Location: New York, New York

Funding: $35M (Series B)

26. Bloomeffects

5-year search growth: 6700%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2019

Location: New York City, New York

Funding: $2M (Seed)

27. Glossier

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2010

Location: New York, New York

Funding: $266.4M (Series E)

What they do: Glossier is a direct-to-consumer makeup and skincare company that began as the beauty blog Into The Gloss. Founder Emily Weiss states that Glossier was built on the idea that the beauty industry should follow the demands of the consumer, rather than have the consumer chase trends started in boardrooms. At launch, the brand offered only four products: a lip balm, a face mist, a priming moisturizer, and a skin tint foundation. Today, the trendy company offers 73 products for their subtle, natural effect designed to achieve the "no-makeup" makeup look.

28. Virtue Labs

5-year search growth: 700%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2015

Location: Raleigh, North Carolina

Funding: $73.8M (Series Unknown)

What they do: Virtue Labs is a keratin-based haircare brand. The company uses Alpha Keratin 60ku in its products to reduce frizz and boost hair color vibrancy. The brand provides personalized suggestions based on customers' input via its DTC e-commerce channel.

29. MyGlamm

5-year search growth: 4900%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2015

Location: Mumbai, India

Funding: $311.9M (Series D)

30. Heyday

5-year search growth: 490%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2015

Location: New York City, New York

Funding: $33.2M (Series B)

Conclusion

These 30 thriving beauty startups represent shifts in consumer's desires towards simplified, customized, and clean beauty.

As the millennial generation moves to make up the largest consumer segment, beauty brands like the ones on this list cater to them with an online subscription-based business model. Beauty startups are also targeting health and environmentally conscious consumers with reusable packaging, transparency, and simple branding.

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by Josh HowarthJuly 20, 2022 You may also like: The beauty and personal care market is expected to grow annually by 3.12% between 2022 and 2026, with personal care making up the largest segment. According to McKinsey, in-store shopping accounted for up to 85% of beauty-product purchases before the pandemic, resulting in an up to 30% loss in revenue when lockdowns began.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
by Josh Howarth
July 20, 2022
You may also like:
The beauty and personal care market is expected to grow annually by 3.12% between 2022 and 2026, with personal care making up the largest segment.

According to McKinsey, in-store shopping accounted for up to 85% of beauty-product purchases before the pandemic, resulting in an up to 30% loss in revenue when lockdowns began.

However, the demand for beauty products has not decreased significantly, only shifted. In their same report, McKinsey states that skincare, nail care, and personal care experienced huge surges during the pandemic.

It follows that beauty startups are trending towards online direct-to-consumer formats, as consumers become more comfortable with online shopping. Another widespread trend among beauty startups is personalized beauty options. Additionally, clean and natural beauty is expected to grow at a faster rate than the rest of the beauty industry, with a projected CAGR of 12.07%.

We've compiled a list of the 30 beauty startups flourishing in this digital era and disrupting the industry. Keep reading to learn more about the key data points on each company

1. Mamaearth

5-year search growth: 9200%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2016

Location: Gurgaon, India

Funding: $110.8M (Series Unknown)

2. Planity

5-year search growth: 99X+

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2016

Location: Paris, France

Funding: $55.7M (Series B)

3. Sallve

5-year search growth: 9800%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2018

Location: São Paulo, Brazil

Funding: $31.8M (Series B)

4. Curology

5-year search growth: 157%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2014

Location: New York, NY

Funding: $35M (Series B)

5. Perfect Corp.

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2014

Location: Taipei, Taiwan

Funding: $100M (Series C)

6. Madison Reed

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2013

Location: San Francisco, California

Funding: $236M (Series Unknown)

7. Billie

5-year search growth: 255%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2017

Location: New York, New York

Funding: $35M (Series A)

8. Tula Skincare

5-year search growth: 445%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2013

Location: New York, New York

Funding: $12.2M (Series Unknown)

9. Versed Skincare

5-year search growth: 6200%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2018

Location: West Hollywood, California

Funding: $11.6M (Series A)

10. Function of Beauty

5-year search growth: 255%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2015

Location: New York, New York

Funding: $247.9M (Series Unknown)

11. ManiMe

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2017

Location: Santa Monica, California

Funding: $8.7M (Series Unknown)

12. Purplle

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2012

Location: Mumbai, India

Funding: $296.3M (Series E)

13. By Humankind

5-year search growth: 414%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2018

Location: New York, New York

Funding: $4M (Seed)

14. The Beard Club

5-year search growth: 155%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2014

Location: Westwood, New Jersey

Funding: Undisclosed

15. Hey Bud Skincare

5-year search growth: 4600%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2018

Location: Melbourne, Australia

Funding: $2M (Angel)

16. ZMirror

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2016

Location: New York, NY

Funding: $74.8M (Series B)

17. Nakedpoppy

5-year search growth: 2000%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2017

Location: San Francisco, California

Funding: $7.8M (Series Unknown)

18. Beautycounter

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2013

Location: Santa Monica, California

Funding: $93.9M (Series Unknown)

19. Quip

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2014

Location: Brooklyn, New York

Funding: $162.2M (Series B)

What they do: Quip offers simple and sustainable oral care product subscriptions. They're best known for their smart electric toothbrush that tracks and coaches better brushing habits. Also included in their product lineup are a refillable mouthwash concentrate, a reusable floss dispenser, and a healthy chewing gum.

20. Deciem

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2013

Location: Toronto, Canada

Funding: Undisclosed

21. Hims

5-year search growth: 1328%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2017

Location: San Francisco, California

Funding: $233.2M (Post-IPO Equity)

22. Shampora

5-year search growth: 3200%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2018

Location: Rome, Italy

Funding: $3.5M (Seed)

What they do: Shampora offers personalized hair care and color products. The startup's proprietary algorithm suggests products to suit specific customer needs. These personalized products are then manufactured in Italy for each customer. All Shampora products are vegan and cruelty-free.

23. Fresha

5-year search growth: 1150%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2015

Location: London, United Kingdom

Funding: $185M (Series C)

24. Nøie

5-year search growth: 1100%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2018

Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

Funding: $12M (Series A)

25. Nutrafol

5-year search growth: 1062%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2014

Location: New York, New York

Funding: $35M (Series B)

26. Bloomeffects

5-year search growth: 6700%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2019

Location: New York City, New York

Funding: $2M (Seed)

27. Glossier

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2010

Location: New York, New York

Funding: $266.4M (Series E)

What they do: Glossier is a direct-to-consumer makeup and skincare company that began as the beauty blog Into The Gloss. Founder Emily Weiss states that Glossier was built on the idea that the beauty industry should follow the demands of the consumer, rather than have the consumer chase trends started in boardrooms. At launch, the brand offered only four products: a lip balm, a face mist, a priming moisturizer, and a skin tint foundation. Today, the trendy company offers 73 products for their subtle, natural effect designed to achieve the "no-makeup" makeup look.

28. Virtue Labs

5-year search growth: 700%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2015

Location: Raleigh, North Carolina

Funding: $73.8M (Series Unknown)

What they do: Virtue Labs is a keratin-based haircare brand. The company uses Alpha Keratin 60ku in its products to reduce frizz and boost hair color vibrancy. The brand provides personalized suggestions based on customers' input via its DTC e-commerce channel.

29. MyGlamm

5-year search growth: 4900%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2015

Location: Mumbai, India

Funding: $311.9M (Series D)

30. Heyday

5-year search growth: 490%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2015

Location: New York City, New York

Funding: $33.2M (Series B)

Conclusion

These 30 thriving beauty startups represent shifts in consumer's desires towards simplified, customized, and clean beauty.

As the millennial generation moves to make up the largest consumer segment, beauty brands like the ones on this list cater to them with an online subscription-based business model. Beauty startups are also targeting health and environmentally conscious consumers with reusable packaging, transparency, and simple branding.

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by Josh HowarthJuly 20, 2022 You may also like: The beauty and personal care market is expected to grow annually by 3.12% between 2022 and 2026, with personal care making up the largest segment. According to McKinsey, in-store shopping accounted for up to 85% of beauty-product purchases before the pandemic, resulting in an up to 30% loss in revenue when lockdowns began.

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A Lush cosmetics campaign designed to promote positive body image and packaging-free cosmetics has been deemed "offensive" and "pornographic in nature."

In total there were four official complaints to the ASB, with a sample provided labelling the advertisement as "nudity for the sake of causing a stir."

When considering the case, the ASB brought up two other advertisements that had resulted in similar complaints.

Tom Ford's Black Orchid perfume campaign with Cara Delevingne and PZ Cussons' Natural Source body wash advertisement were both discussed by the ASB.

They had previously dismissed the case for PZ Cussons, noting that considering the accompanying text with the advertisement, "the combination of the tea tree plants and the man in his natural state are relevant to this text."

However the Tom Ford advertisement complaint was upheld for its placement within a department store and the possibility that the display would be "in full visibility of children," similar to the Lush cosmetics case.

Launched in August, the Go Naked campaign was met with hundreds of positive comments, applauding the brand for its innovation and willingness to show photos of "real" women.

Lush responded to the complaints in a statement to BuzzFeed News, saying the campaign was meant to highlight the excessive packaging used for products in the industry, as well as promote body positivity.

Model for the campaign and Lush employee Courtney Fry (pictured centre) told BuzzFeed News she had anticipated some negative comments, but most of the feedback was "absolutely positive."

After ongoing negotiations, Lush chose to remove the campaign images from the Queensland store five days early. They told BuzzFeed News they actually received complaints that the image had been removed.

Lush's Australasia director, Peta Granger, said the decision from the ASB would not affect the way they advertise in the future.

"We want our messages to empower people, not make them feel awful about themselves over a body that is probably not ever real due to how much it's been digitally 'enhanced'."

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This Body-Positive Ad For Lush Cosmetics Was Reported As "Pornography"

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A Lush cosmetics campaign designed to promote positive body image and packaging-free cosmetics has been deemed "offensive" and "pornographic in nature." In total there were four official complaints to the ASB, with a sample provided labelling the advertisement as "nudity for the sake of causing a stir."

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A Lush cosmetics campaign designed to promote positive body image and packaging-free cosmetics has been deemed "offensive" and "pornographic in nature."

In total there were four official complaints to the ASB, with a sample provided labelling the advertisement as "nudity for the sake of causing a stir."

When considering the case, the ASB brought up two other advertisements that had resulted in similar complaints.

Tom Ford's Black Orchid perfume campaign with Cara Delevingne and PZ Cussons' Natural Source body wash advertisement were both discussed by the ASB.

They had previously dismissed the case for PZ Cussons, noting that considering the accompanying text with the advertisement, "the combination of the tea tree plants and the man in his natural state are relevant to this text."

However the Tom Ford advertisement complaint was upheld for its placement within a department store and the possibility that the display would be "in full visibility of children," similar to the Lush cosmetics case.

Launched in August, the Go Naked campaign was met with hundreds of positive comments, applauding the brand for its innovation and willingness to show photos of "real" women.

Lush responded to the complaints in a statement to BuzzFeed News, saying the campaign was meant to highlight the excessive packaging used for products in the industry, as well as promote body positivity.

Model for the campaign and Lush employee Courtney Fry (pictured centre) told BuzzFeed News she had anticipated some negative comments, but most of the feedback was "absolutely positive."

After ongoing negotiations, Lush chose to remove the campaign images from the Queensland store five days early. They told BuzzFeed News they actually received complaints that the image had been removed.

Lush's Australasia director, Peta Granger, said the decision from the ASB would not affect the way they advertise in the future.

"We want our messages to empower people, not make them feel awful about themselves over a body that is probably not ever real due to how much it's been digitally 'enhanced'."

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This Body-Positive Ad For Lush Cosmetics Was Reported As "Pornography"

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A Lush cosmetics campaign designed to promote positive body image and packaging-free cosmetics has been deemed "offensive" and "pornographic in nature." In total there were four official complaints to the ASB, with a sample provided labelling the advertisement as "nudity for the sake of causing a stir."

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In-Depth Marketing Strategy of Lush - A Case Study | IIDE

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Ever wondered what makes Lush such a huge success? Click here to learn about its marketing mix, marketing strategy, and competitor analysis.

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We have often talked about the cosmetics brand Lush as an example of customer experience. Today we propose an analysis of the Lush marketing mix. We will follow the 7P method, the steps of which you will find in our marketing mix analysis grids.

The product

The product is the cornerstone of Lush's marketing strategy. Its marketing positioning is based on the promise of natural, "fresh" products (this notion being relatively vague) and not tested on animals. The marketing mix is therefore naturally expressed through all the attributes of the products.

Lush's branding is that of a brand that wants to bring joy and positive energy to its customers. The products are therefore very colorful to convey this value.

Packaging is a central element of the product marketing mix. A unique, minimalist jar design is used for the creams. The date of manufacture and the identity of the person who made it are shown on the packaging. In addition to being a differentiating element that proves the artisanal and fresh character of the products, the label is almost a collector's item because we want to know the people behind the products.

The packaging is also a way to prove the commitment to nature. It is indeed reduced to the maximum for the solid products, and for the creams, the jars used are minimalist and reusable. A recycling program exists, which allows you to get a free product if you bring back 5 empty jars.

The price

The pricing strategy followed by Lush is based on the value perceived by the customer. Product prices are fixed, but degressive pricing is applied according to the size of the container. The higher the volume of product purchased for the same product, the lower the price per liter/kilo.

Temporary discounts are granted at particular times of the year but remain the exception. For the online channel, promotional offers are more often given, especially during Black Friday.

Communication

Lush's communication efforts take the form of street marketing or guerrilla marketing rather than traditional advertising.

The store window is an important communication channel in this respect. The photo below is an example of the freedom given to store managers to transmit messages that correspond to the brand's DNA. The image below was taken in Montpellier (France), where the store manager displayed a slightly provocative message in the window.

Lush concentrates its communication efforts on online channels and, here again, conveys its values around ethics and transparency. You will find on YouTube many videos produced by Lush that show you how the products are made. You can see how the products are made by hand using natural products. Far from the aseptic world of the factories of the world's cosmetic giants, we discover in these videos an artisanal process that is more about craftsmanship than chemistry. These videos are therefore intended to "reassure."

The distribution

Lush products are only distributed through the brand's boutiques. It is, therefore, an owner distribution network. E-commerce has also developed thanks to the Covid-19 crisis.

Lush's marketing mix is very much based on people. The employees' joie de vivre is also expressed online in the videos that the brand broadcasts on social networks, such as in this video on making an eggplant-shaped soap. Credits: Lush via YouTube.

People

People are really at the center of the customer experience proposed by Lush. Lush's employees are a central part of its marketing mix, so prominent that they become a driver of loyalty.

The selection and training process is extraordinary because employees have a joie de vivre and empathy unique to Lush. No other brand can claim to instill such a joie de vivre through its employees.
What is also characteristic of the brand is that employees can indeed "be themselves" at work. Tattoos and piercings are out where they would otherwise be hidden.

This joie de vivre is also transmitted online. Some Lush employees present videos to show the process behind the scenes. Gilda (see video above), for example, is generating waves of positive comments on YouTube. The screenshot below shows that the employees' positive attitude and cheerfulness are transmitted to the customers.

The processes

As explained here, the "process" part of the marketing mix is concerned with the processes related to customer service. We will distinguish between offline and online processes.

Online processes

Customer requests are handled by the customer service department of the country where the product was purchased. The responsibilities are, therefore, territorial.
The online customer service answers requests for information. However, in case of problems, the customer is asked to go back to the store where they made the purchase.

Offline process

A lot of freedom is given to the store managers regarding customer service. A little like communication, a pragmatic approach is always favored to satisfy the customer. For example, it is enough to kindly request a free sample of a product to be offered to you.

The physical environment

This aspect of the marketing mix is another crucial element of the Lush strategy. Lush stores are a place where people enjoy going because their senses are stimulated. Lush applies all the sensory marketing trade tricks to create a unique customer experience in its sales outlets.

Lush plays a lot on the senses to make its customers buy. The English brand is a champion of sensory marketing. A visit to a Lush store awakens all the senses:

Visual: the colorful products create a unique visual atmosphere. The colored soaps and bath bombs offer a strong color contrast with the black packaging.

Olfactory: like Abercrombie & Fitch, we can speak of an olfactory signature of Lush. This is recognizable from the street where the scents of soaps, shampoos, and other bath bombs are mixed.

Auditory: the joy and energy of the brand is also characterized by the music that is played in the sales outlet

The materials used in the sales outlet are in the image of the brand: natural. There is a lot of raw wood and bare brick walls.
Tags: market research europe

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Marketing mix: analysis of the cosmetics brand Lush

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We have often talked about the cosmetics brand Lush as an example of customer experience. Today we propose an analysis of the Lush marketing mix. We will follow the 7P method, the steps of which you will find in our marketing mix analysis grids. The product is the cornerstone of Lush's marketing strategy.

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Lush is becoming anti-social

Lush turns its back on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat

Until they take action to provide a safer environment for users

Lush have finally had enough, in light of Facebook whistleblower

All Lush brand, retail and people accounts, around the world will be closing

Promises to invest in new ways to connect and build better communication channels elsewhere.

26th November 2021: Global

From 26th November 2021, the global Lush brand will be turning its back on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat, until the platforms take action to provide a safer environment for users. This policy is rolling out across all the 48 countries where Lush operates.

In the same way that evidence against climate change was ignored and belittled for decades, concerns about the serious effects of social media are going largely ignored now. Lush is taking matters into its own hands and addressing the issues now, not waiting around until others believe in the problem before changing its own behaviour.

Company statement:

Like so many teenagers have experienced before us, Lush has tried to come off social media, but our FOMO is vast, and our compulsion to use the various platforms means we find ourselves back on there, despite our best intentions.

So here we are again, trying to go cold (plant-based) turkey.

Having previously attempted this in 2019, our resolve has been strengthened by all the latest information from courageous whistleblowers, which clearly lays out the known harms that young people are exposed to because of the current algorithms and loose regulation of this new area of our lives.

As an inventor of bath bombs, I pour all my efforts into creating products that help people switch off, relax and pay attention to their wellbeing. Social media platforms have become the antithesis of this aim, with algorithms designed to keep people scrolling and stop them from switching off and relaxing.

Jack Constantine, CDO & Product Inventor

We wouldn't ask our customers to meet us down a dark and dangerous alleyway - but some social media platforms are beginning to feel like places no one should be encouraged to go. Something has to change. We hope that platforms will introduce strong best practice guidelines, and we hope that international regulation will be passed into law. But we can't wait. We feel forced to take our own action to shield our customers from the harm and manipulation they may experience whilst trying to connect with us on social media.

So Lush will be signing out from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, until these platforms can provide a safer environment for their users.

I've spent all my life avoiding putting harmful ingredients in my products. There is now overwhelming evidence we are being put at risk when using social media. I'm not willing to expose my customers to this harm, so it's time to take it out of the mix

Mark Constantine OBE, Co-Founder, CEO & Product Inventor

Lush promises not to be completely anti-social. We will do all we can to find new ways to connect, to build better channels of communication elsewhere, as well as using the older tried and tested routes. For now we can still be found on Twitter and YouTube - no need to click Like, Subscribe or Get Notifications, people can just pop along to check us out when they fancy. See here for a full list of where you can find us.

We've always got a lot to say, but when we climb onto a soapbox we like it to be safe.

For further information and for any interview requests please contact [email protected]

To keep up to date and be the first to know about further exciting Lush announcements, subscribe to the Lush Newsletter.

You can find further information on Lush's Digital Ethics here

Notes to Editors

When social turns sour

Lush has always been a social brand, finding unique ways to communicate directly with customers. From the trailblazing catalogues of CTG back in the 90s and the hugely popular Lush Times newspapers, to the very early customer forum and our quick adoption of social media when it was first developed - Lush's goal has always been to interact with those who love our products and to listen to what they have to say to us.

Lush has also always been about advocating wellbeing. "We believe in long candlelit baths, sharing showers, massage, and filling the world with perfume" is part of our mission statement and at the core of our very purpose as a business.

When it gets to a point that our customers' wellbeing is being put in jeopardy because of the channels on which we are trying to connect with them, then something doesn't sit right for us. We believe that tech should be built for the greater good and impact positive social change, and have campaigned for this over the years.

2016

On Black Friday in 2016 Lush worked with digital rights organisation Access Now on their global #KeepItOn campaign to fight government ordered internet shutdowns. The #Error404 bath bomb raised £250,000 for a Digital Fund to support Access Now, but also global grassroots digital activists fighting to keep the internet free, open and safe.

2018

Then in 2018, in light of Facebook declaring that 29 million users' data had been leaked because of a bug, Lush created and sold a limited edition tote bag at The Next Web 2018 conference with the slogan "What the Zuck?" Proceeds went into the Lush Digital fund, supporting tech for good initiatives globally.

2019

At The Next Web 2019 conference, Lush partnered with Bits of Freedom, a digital rights organisation based in the Netherlands "focused on privacy and freedom of communication online." Lush made and sold a tote bag with the slogan "Take CTRL" to create awareness and encourage people to make conscious choices in the way they use, choose and consume technology. The proceeds from these limited edition bags sold at the event went to Bits of Freedom to support their mission to build a new digital toolbox to inform and empower people to become a more conscious consumer of technology.

Didn't Lush attempt this before?

In 2019, Lush UK stopped posting to Instagram and Facebook due to increasing concerns over how much control these big platforms had on how many people, and which people, saw anything we posted. This interaction is controlled for no other reason than to extract profit for themselves, and the idea that a main route of communication with our customers could be regulated by a third party was worrying.

2020

With the unprecedented arrival of the global pandemic in 2020 and people locked down all over the world leaning heavily on all the features of the internet to keep going, we decided to bring back some limited use of the channels we had mothballed, to offer the only possible service to our customers we had.

On 15th September 2020, during lockdown, Lush also partnered with IAMWHOLE and Zoe Sugg in Digital Detox Day - to advocate for putting our devices down for one whole day and to focus on our mental health. The campaign was a huge success, with hundreds of thousands taking part around the world - however feedback to IAW from teens trying to detox from their tech highlighted just how hard it was. Anxiety, FOMO and phantom alerts all contributed towards many not being able to stay off line for more than a few hours.

2021

Then in 2021 came the Facebook Files and numerous whistleblower accounts from ex-Facebook employees exposing internal research papers proving Facebook know the very real harms being caused on their platform, but are choosing not to act.

We at Lush don't want to wait for better worldwide regulations or for the platforms to introduce best practice guidelines, while a generation of young people are growing up experiencing serious and lasting harm. Now is the right time to find better ways to connect without putting our customers in harm's way.

It is not enough for companies to just stop placing paid advertising; people and their time are the currency of these channels and we do not want our content to be used by hidden algorithms designed to hold people captive on a channel.

About Lush

When it comes to cosmetics, Lush is known for doing things differently. Whether it's by inventing new products that reduce unnecessary packaging, driving campaigns that reveal untold stories or by raising the bar of what a retail experience can look and feel like. In essence, Lush aims to give more than it takes from society and the environment. And in a world where technology has become an essential part of every business, it is only natural Lush drives best practice when it comes to digital ethics.

Tech doesn't have to be unethical; it can be built for the greater good and impact positive social change. We at Lush want a world where Fresh Handmade Tech is built for regeneration, not destruction. We're ready to start a digital revolution.

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Lush is becoming anti-social - We are Lush

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Lush is becoming anti-social Lush turns its back on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat Until they take action to provide a safer environment for users Lush have finally had enough, in light of Facebook whistleblower All Lush brand, retail and people accounts, around the world will be closing Promises to invest in new ways to connect and build better communication channels elsewhere.

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Lush is quitting social media. The start of a trend?

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The British cosmetics brand is leaving four of the major social platforms. Experts weigh the potential risks and rewards.

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12 Fashion Trends for Spring 2023, Straight From the Runway

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From a continuation of the Big Pants craze to an updated take on preppy dressing, here are the 12 trends sure to be everywhere for spring 2023.