This blog post was inspired by my previous blog post on the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. While I know a bit about Victoria’s Secret competing brand Aerie, I wanted to dive deep and explore the brand’s corporate social responsibility.
Aerie is known for its commitment to body positivity, inclusivity, and sustainability. One of Aerie’s biggest campaigns #AerieReal, uses real people instead of models. Aerie has models for the brand with diverse body types, ethnicities, and abilities. This campaign promotes self love, and shuts down the typical beauty standards seen in the fashion industry. With the popularity of the #AerieReal campaign, Aerie launched REAL Voices, Real Talks, AerieREAL Role Models, AerieREAL Changemakers, which are offshoots of the original campaign.
Along with its inclusive campaigns, Aerie offers a wide range of sizing options in order for all women to shop and feel comfortable in the clothing. The brand even offers a Real Good clothing line, focusing on providing comfortable and casual clothing. With an emphasis on inclusivity, Aerie fulfills the social impact and fairness principles of corporate social responsibility.
Aerie has a big emphasis on sustainability, and reducing carbon footprint. The company goals are in line with the Paris Agreement: striving to “keep any temperature increase limited to 1.5 degrees C” (Aerie). The brand plans to be carbon neutral by 2030, and is working toward having the “carbon footprint in our supply chain by 40% by 2030 & 60% by 2040” (Aerie). Aerie additionally collaborates with other companies to work toward their sustainable goals.
Aerie is committed to fostering a sense of community and this is shown through its involvement in partnerships with other companies. Aerie strives to promote wellness, physically and mentally. One of its partnerships is with the National Eating Disorders Association, reflecting the brand’s core value of uplifting women.
AerieREAL Life is a foundation working to “build confidence in women, foster an inclusive community, and protect our planet to make the world a better place for all”(Aerie). The main focus of the foundation is providing community grants. The grants help to support nonprofits that align with the Aerie brand. This year a grant was given to Special Olympics, a non-profit that provides children and adults with intellectual disabilities the option to participate in athletic training and competitions.
Aerie is transparent about its production process making sure the brand is upholding fair labor practices and are ethically sourcing materials.
Aerie’s corporate social responsibility helps the company stand out among competitors, such as Victoria’s Secret. Consumers actively seek out companies that are committed to ethical practices when looking to buy a product. As a consumer it is important to find a brand that you love that is also doing good things for the world.
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