Earlier this month, US fashion designer Jenny Kayne launched her first outdoor advertising campaign in New York City. The posters, of three beautiful ‘real’ women—actor Phoebe Tonkin, model Lara Worthington and lingerie designer TyLynn Nguyen—were dressed in simple jeans and jumpers with the slogan #findyouruniform.
One of the posters—of Nguyen breastfeeding her child—went viral, with users sharing photos of the poster on social media, often alongside the tag #normalisebreastfeeding. According to a report by , the company claims that the breastfeeding images reached up to four million people, and a 1305 per cent increase in sales week on week.
It’s hardly surprising that the ad has resonated with women. The theme of “find your uniform” is surely to appeal to all women, not just mums, who can’t be bothered to find new outfits every day. Though, if this was really a “mum uniform”—the outfit’s natural fibres would be thanks to vomit stains, not delicately woven fabrics.
It’s not the first time breastfeeding has featured in or , and they’re often a hit. When so much of fashion and beauty advertising is about catering to a male gaze, seeing a woman breastfeeding is refreshing. And who looks so comfortable breastfeeding while standing up? I’ve never seen it done with such ease—though we’ll never know if Nguyen was also struggling to get the baby to latch right before this picture was taken. If she wanted to look really “authentic”, Nguyen would be sitting in the café at IKEA, turning her back to the crowd and covering her child with an awkwardly placed muslin wrap that will inevitably fall off. But hey, each mum is different.
According to Kayne, the breastfeeding photo wasn’t even planned. It was simply a candid moment captured on film after Nguyen brought her child to set. “Although bringing a newborn to work is a privilege for far too few women, feeding is an absolute necessity," Kayne told Fashionista. "It was a happy accident that the image spoke to the campaign, which is about more than just clothes and commodity—it's about women feeling comfortable and true to who they are."
And if women do see their true selves in this image, that’s excellent, and anything that subverts the male gaze in fashion is certainly admirable—but if we are going to be showing the ‘every woman’ in advertising, let’s make it a little more realistic.
