Photo shoot with Lori Coulter Swimwear

Last year, I had the honor of being chosen to model swim suits for Lori Coulter, a swim wear company based in St. Louis. Lori's swim wear is made from personal measurements and with all the right elements to flatter a woman's body, not fit it into a tiny, poorly made "suit." Also, I was able to style the shoot with Scarlett Garnet Jewelry!  A little hard to see, but almost every lady is wearing signature SG. We had to keep the photos under wraps until Lori finished post production and they were officially released. 

Lori Coulter's TRUE Campaign features a diverse group of women who are committed to embracing their authentic beauty and to teaching future generations to do the same.  She put out a call for "models," which was really a call to any lady that is proud of her body and wants to run around in a swimsuit in front of a camera for a couple hours.  A wide variety of women answered the call, and each was measured to create a personalized fit.  The final photos show an array of sizes, skin colors, and different suits that highlight the best features for each. 

The photos were taken by the talented Katherine Bish in the old photo studio for Macy's in the basement of the St. Louis downtown location.  It was such an adventure to be in a professional photo studio with a huge infinity wall and imagine how they would photograph entire lines and marketing material back in the day.

My roommate, Tia, getting make-up, including lashes!

We had coaching on how to pose, which was much harder than I thought it would be!
I've filmed for plenty of videos but there are so many things to think about to just stand and not look awkward. 

Crazy photo created when the real photographer's flash went off

Tia and I, pre shoot.  Tia can rock a high-waisted vintage look like no other

Look at these ladies, lovin their new Lori Coulter suits!

Jazz and Mariella, rocking the Scarlett Garnet Jewelry!
Jazz is a professional figure competitor and Mariella is a clothing designer and has her own company, Five at Seven

Random sidenote- Macy's uses part of the photo studio area for storage of their amazingly detailed holiday window displays.  The pieces are animated too. 

The TRUE Campaign was featured in a recent issue of The Swim Journal

I am excited for what is in store for Lori Coulter Swimwear.  She has mentioned that for the next photo shoot, she hopes to have an even wider range of ethnicities and body types represented.  I'm sure this campaign will bring hope to women shopping for the impossible suit, and gives them confidence to rock a new style.  When preparing for the shoot, I found a few other examples of clothing lines using real people, not just professional models that wear a size way on the end of the bell curve for average sizes.

From Debenhams in the UK 

These guys, readers of Sun Magazine in the UK, help point out the ridiculousness of having David Beckham model underwear. 

Let us know if there are any clothing lines or ad campaigns that feature a wide variety of models that have inspired you!

Thanks for reading,

Katie