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Everyone’s favorite celebrity has ventured into new territories and I could not be more excited about it. YITTY, Lizzo’s new shapewear brand, just launched today, and I know it will revolutionize the industry. It’s already thrilling the internet with its promotional photos, featuring a diverse array of bodies in the loveliest of colors. According to Lizzo’s Instagram tease, this endeavor is more of a passion project than a business pursuit and has been years in the making. I don’t think there could be a better founder for a body-positive shapewear company considering Lizzo’s infectious confidence and feel-good lyrics from her empowering songs that I have adored for years. I will go as far as to say that we will finally have a shapewear brand that prioritizes every body. But the real reason I was so excited when this launch dropped was one line: “6X-XXS.”
It is evident that Lizzo has poured her heart into YITTY, and I presume that her team has deliberated hard on each and every aspect of the brand. Their choice in how to list sizes may seem trivial, but for plus-size women, it means the world. In the simple act of reversing the traditional sizing order, Lizzo chips away at our society’s close-minded notions about size. This pioneering choice tells plus-size women that they’re important when far too often the act of looking to the right to find their size is fruitless. Sizing is no longer an ascending scale, rather, your size is just your size. Much like the revolution of Juvia’s Place having their dark skin tones at the front of their range instead of the pale ones, this move is one that shows that plus-size women are the focus of YITTY, not the afterthought. As I explored more YITTY content on my socials, I grew more and more excited by the fact that the brand truly serves plus-size bodies like Lizzo’s. So far, I gather that YITTY accepts all its customers with open arms.
YITTY is a huge stride not only for Lizzo– as far as our research goes it is the first major shapewear brand run by a plus-size woman, let alone a Black plus-size woman. The other major shapewear brand that immediately comes to mind is SKIMS, Kim Kardashian’s sleek project. While it nails the brand aesthetic–and I’ll admit, I succumbed to the TikTok hype and bought that trending bodycon maxi dress–it lacks authenticity in that Kim is associated with a doctored beauty ideal of unrealistic body standards and modification. To me, when I bought from SKIMS it was out of a (pitiful, I’ll admit) desire to look “snatched” like Kim. The issue was, when I put on that SKIMS dress, I looked at myself disheartened in the mirror. Of course it didn’t magically transform my body into that Instagram-model hourglass. Kim’s unattainable image seeps into her branding, and when I shop on SKIMS I can’t help but feel the pressure of the Kardashians’ surgically-modified bodies that have been equated to today's beauty standard. When I pressed "add to cart" on the YITTY site this morning, it was out of pure admiration of Lizzo, and a hope to attain even just an ounce of her confidence. After all, YITTY shapewear is designed to show off your body, not just suck it in tight.