New Zealand lingerie brand Lonely is what Victoria's Secret should be.
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The label that refuses to Photoshop models for advertisements and renowned for its inclusive marketing has cast 56-year-old model Mercy Brewer to promote its new autumn-winter 2017 collection.
The new images shot by Harry Were have lit up the internet, just months after the label went viral after Girls star Lena Dunham and Jemima Kirke teamed up for a "body positivity" photoshoot after being approached by co-founder and designer Helene Morris.
"She [Dunham] has been incredibly supportive of Lonely, and we really appreciate her contribution to our brand. We posted one image on Instagram and had over 1 billion page impressions and hundreds of stories worldwide. For a small New Zealand based team, it has been incredible for our international recognition and growth," Morris said.
"Victoria's Secret holds over 50 per cent market share in the US and has so many problem areas, from their stereotypical marketing, receiving the lowest rating for production practices to their hugely disproportionate CEO pay, which was over $40 million in 2014.
"We wanted to show women that there is another way to build and sustain a company; strengthening and supporting our manufacturers' businesses and lives, producing imagery that gives our daughters confidence, not insecurities."
Of the new project starring Brewer, Morris said she wanted to raise awareness about aging - a concept she feels is foreign to the beauty and fashion industries.
"The beauty and fashion industries are so obsessed with youth, but the reality is we are all ageing, and there are so many wonderful things about growing older.
"So often the primary message around age is intervention, which is a frustrating response to such a natural, inevitable process."
Brewer, a Scottish-born model who worked with Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell in London back in the day, is a former punk and her attitude, like her looks, has not faded.
"Well I'm not one for swimming upstream, I just accept it for what it is, it does the job," she said when asked how her relationship with her body had changed.
