In an Internet full of retouched photos and filtered selfies that sneakily (and sometimes not-so sneakily) skew the appearances of nearly everything we see in frame, ModCloth has decided to keep it real by signing a pledge to be completely transparent about their Photoshopping practices.
Called the Heroes Pledge for Advertisers, a petition started by the advocates behind the Truth in Advertising bill, the anti-airbrushing statement aims to make companies mindful of its Photoshop use and its effects on consumers. By signing on the virtual dotted line, ModCloth became the first fashion company to agree to “do our best to not change to shape, size, proportion, color and/or remove/enhance the physical features of the people in our ads in post-production.” Only non-material changes like removing fly-away hairs or brightening the color of a backdrop are acceptable — there’s no nipping, tucking, toning or smoothing of the female form allowed.
If ModCloth must take the blur tool to a model, the e-tailer has agreed to add a “Truth in Advertising” label to the altered images that describes its digital meddling in detail. “That’s what we all deserve — to know the truth!” says a post on the ModCloth blog that calls the pledge a “courageous movement.” Though if you’ve ever gotten lost scrolling through the vintage-leaning styles on the brand’s website, you’d be quick to notice that this is just the latest in a long-line of body-positive initiatives ModCloth has spearheaded. Aside from casting “real girls” in its ads from the start, just last year the brand made its offbeat offerings even more inclusive when it expanded its size range up to 4X (or size 28/30). Each of these moves might be considered bold in the eyes of those blinded by the thigh gap, but to any-sized women trying to feel confident in her own skin (and in cute duds, too!), it only seems natural to embrace what actually is, well, totally natural.
What other companies do you want to see embrace this anti-airbrush movement? Tell us who you want to go Photoshop-free in the comments below.
(h/t Fashionista)