Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Lena Dunham and Jemima Kirke front unretouched lingerie advert featuring inspirational women

'Lena and Jemima are empowered and exhibit real beauty'

Heather Saul
Friday 26 August 2016 12:42 EDT
Comments
(Zara Mirkin and Harry Were, Lonely Girls )
(Zara Mirkin and Harry Were, Lonely Girls ) (Zara Mirkin and Harry Were, Lonley Girls )

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Lena Dunham and Jemima Kirke are championing the unretouched precedent set by models such as Iskra Lawrence and Barbie Ferreira after appearing in unedited images.

The Girls creator and star have been shot for Lonely Girls, a journal featuring inspiring women modelling underwear from the New Zealand-based Lonely brand in their own personal spaces.

The journal is part of the Lonely Girls Project, a portrait series launched in 2009. The project aims to subvert female objectification by presenting women in underwear without the sexualisation prevalent in fashion and tabloid media.

(Zara Mirkin and Harry Were, Lonely Girls )
(Zara Mirkin and Harry Were, Lonely Girls ) (Zara Mirkin and Harry Were, Lonley Girls)

A growing resistance is forming against digitally manipulating images in reaction to the heavily filtered photos dominating Instagram that perpetuate impossible standards of beauty.

Demi Lovato bares all no touch-ups photoshoot

Ferreira’s image quickly went viral when the American Apparel model, 19, was chosen as the face of Aerie’s swimwear collection. Lawrence and Ferreira were selected for the brand’s Aerie Real anti-retouching campaign and have become ambassadors of the body-positive movement.

Dunham posted a picture of herself in one of Lonely’s lingerie sets last year.

A spokesperson said: “As an unconventional approach, Lonely aspires to showcase women wearing underwear in a way that we usually don’t see in mainstream advertising and the media. Instead of being objectified, the women who participate in this journal series – in this case, Lena and Jemima – are empowered and exhibit real beauty that will hopefully help women everywhere feel a little more liberated. The brand also never retouches a single image.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in