My Aerie Partnership Experience

Happy Friday everyone! I am so excited to share this blog post with you all. I had the opportunity to partner with Aerie for their 4th annual Love the Swim You’re In campaign and I couldn’t be more stoked. When they reached out to me, I was over the moon! This was my first brand collaboration of any kind, and the fact that it was with a company I love so much was a dream come true.

When I was younger, American Eagle and Aerie were always my go-to clothing store for cute pieces that fit me right. My weight was always a struggle growing up and it wasn’t always easy finding clothes, especially at the stores all my friends were shopping at. Limited Too was all the rage in the earlier 2000s but your girl was just not made for those clothes (or those clothes just weren’t made for me). My 11-year-old self was often left devastated in the dressing room because the biggest size sold was too small for me. American Eagle was a store I knew I could go into and find something in my size. It might seem silly, but for a chubby 5th grade girl just trying to fit in, it was everything.

Fast forward to 2019 and 25 year old Kelsey is still shopping her heart out at AE and Aerie. I am so proud to promote a brand with such a body-positive message. In the past few years, Aerie has really stepped up to the plate when it comes to promoting healthy body image and inclusivity. They feature models of all different sizes, ethnicities, and ableness. One of my favorite things about Aerie is that they’ve completely eliminated retouching in their photos. It’s such a refreshing move and I really wish more companies would take note.

This year, when you share your 100% unretouched photos with #AerieREAL and @Aerie, they’ll donate a $1 to The National Eating Disorders Association (@NEDA). They’ve pledged up to $50,000 and I think that’s pretty awesome. So get to sharing and love the swim you’re in!

I had such a blast shooting in these pieces. If you guys are interested, all the links are listed below. And a special thank you to Aerie for sending me these adorable clothes: 11 year-old Kelsey was living her dream.