Debenhams & Airbrushing: British Department Store BANS Retouching

British department store Debenhams has been embracing female beauty in all of its forms as of late. Back in January, plus-sized mannequins were displayed in store windows. In February, the store hired a wheelchair-bound model for their advertising campaign, where she was photographed with plus-sized and petite models.

Now, the Daily Mail UK reports that Debenhams has banned airbrushing in its upcoming swimsuit campaign:

A sign in the Debenhams window will read: 'We've not messed with natural beauty; this image is unairbrushed. What do you think?' It will also show customers an example of just how much the image could have been altered.

(The image above depicts what changes would have been made to the photograph if it had been edited. It, along with other similar pictures, will be displayed in Debenhams store windows.)

Liberal Democrat member of Parliament, Jo Swinson, has encouraged the rejection of airbrushing through her Campaign for Body Confidence. She hopes that Debenhams' unedited images "will demonstrate [...] that swimwear modeled by real women who have not been retouched can sell just as well as products advertised with extensive airbrushing, which has become the norm."

The chain will run the un-airbrushed window displays and advertisements in its Oxford Street store to gain feedback from customers and staff before expanding the campaign to all of the UK.

Comments

[Dottedvoile]

12:01 AM on 06/29/2010

given how much designers pat themselves on the back for being "sooo creative", how creative would it be, and intersting if there were ads where the model were wheelchair bound, or physcially handicapped some way? how cool would a runway show be, if all the models were recovering cancer patients dressed in beautiful clothes? or a photospread featuring people who are naturally covered freckles? the fashion industry is talented when it comes to constructing clothes, but they ways in which they present their creations..is lax.

[aphextwin07]

09:31 AM on 06/28/2010

i like it. and i can't believe how much the above image would have been 'shopped, that girl is gorgeous as she is.

[Nor Cal Mom]

03:31 AM on 06/22/2010

LOVE IT! Now if we can get something like that to happen across the pond...

[nancynancy]

02:39 PM on 06/19/2010

Cleaning up a blemish, a stray lock of hair, or an underarm shadow is fine. But when you sculpt down already slender waists and thighs, I think it crosses the line.

[Imasqre]

12:45 PM on 06/19/2010

Its amazing how much they would have slimmed her down.

[Indiegirl99]

12:10 AM on 06/19/2010

I think this is great. I can not tell you how many times I have talked to a teen who thinks they are too fat and ugly because they don't look like a model in a magazine and tried to explain to them just how much liquifying and airbrushing is done to make the models look so perfect. Amazing what they can do in Photoshop, every time I watch this video my jaw just drops http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dJujKM635s Jusr reminds me how you can't trust your eyes when it comes to printed photos.

[ncconcernedcitizen]

04:05 PM on 06/18/2010

yuck, I can't stand it. I want airbrushed supermodels with plastic b00bs and lips.

[uglygnome]

01:11 PM on 06/18/2010

As if that woman really need airbrushing!

[sort84]

06:47 PM on 06/18/2010

Indeed!

[entropiii]

01:05 PM on 06/18/2010

I find it kind of ironic that they chose this model for this story... Has anyone else noticed that the model is missing the tip of her pinky?

[MyElijah]

01:24 PM on 06/18/2010

THis model was born without the tip of her pinky.

[NoMoFearNoMoHate]

01:53 PM on 06/18/2010

I give you props just for noticing that! I bet that turns out to be a... ahem... shocker. tee hee.

[nancynancy]

02:35 PM on 06/19/2010

The model's pinky is not missing -- it is simply bent.

[goforitlisa]

01:00 PM on 06/18/2010

I love it!!!! Real women.

[Jeffin90019]

12:51 PM on 06/18/2010

Women torment themselves to look the women in ads and magazines when even the women in the ads and magazines don't look like that. I believe that if all women protested by going on a magazine and shopping boycott for three months, you'd see a size 14 woman on the cover of Vogue in no time. Women are willing participants in their own misery. Men just don't care if other men think they're fat.

[PreNatural]

12:49 PM on 06/18/2010

I am an amateur photographer and I shoot swimwear almost exclusively. I never have to "airbrush" an image because under certain lighting conditions and exposure combined with a physically fit model needs no more than some simple blemish coverage or a small leg bruise to be retouched. I am not in favor of distorting peoples perception of what a woman should look like, only flattering the model and the design. That never translates into using Photoshop to paint a picture of a woman that does not exist. See for yourself here http://www.ladramaqueen.etsy.com My wife makes all of the designs by hand and I do the photography. Of course we style the hair and the model has make-up on but no other alterations to "nature" are applied and the photos do appear straight out of the camera looking like this.

[Earl]

12:26 PM on 06/18/2010

We finally found the solution to high fructose corn syrup...fat mannequins!

[rebecca384]

12:25 PM on 06/18/2010

The hiring of plus sized and wheelchair bound models mentioned at the start is more impressive to me. Putting up a picture of a woman who is already stunning, flawless and stick thin pre-photoshop doesn't do much to improve my body confidence.

[santiago sherwood]

12:28 PM on 06/18/2010

this could be horrible, buttless, boobless models will finally be seen as the anorexic bimbos they really are.

[paintitblack]

12:20 PM on 06/18/2010

The worst part of the photo is the swimsuit, airbrush that hideous thing! The woman is beautiful as she is!