Recently Adidas released pictures of their new collaboration with Stella McCartney starring professional pole dancer Leila Davis modeling a sports bra and high-waisted leggings, with her armpit hair on full display.
We were not surprised that her body hair would be a hot topic despite how gorgeous the actual collection it.
According to Yahoo The collaboration proves that women look stylish even if they don’t shave their body hair.
See below:
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“Yes to everything, the model, the outfit, the message,” someone wrote on the brand’s Instagram page.
Others added, “Thank you Adidas, for supporting women in having the choice to do with their bodies as they please,” “Men can have body hair, so why is it not yet fully accepted in society for women? A beautiful post” and “Normalize body hair.”
Other people weren’t so flattering: “So cute. Not sure about the hairy pits tho,” “Hell no!!!!” “Ok but really…why the hairy armpits” and vomit emojis cluttered the photo.
“People who don’t like body hair, is everything okay at home?” one user wrote.
Davis herself tweeted: “It is so misogynistic to attack women for having body hair. They wouldn’t do it to a man, and the level of steam they have for me is definitely because of my Blackness. It makes them mad that this big brand gave me and my armpit hair a platform.”
The pole instructor in London and founder of the group Blackstage Pole which showcases dancers of color in the UK “as they are often underrepresented, ignored and discriminated against in the pole scene,” tells Yahoo Life that she doesn’t typically shave unless she feels like it.
“I remember on my first day of shooting thinking, ‘Well this is me in my natural state and that’s okay.'”
Davis adds, “The majority of my friends have body hair [and] I’m not friends with any body hair shamers so it’s not something I think about often.
It grows where it grows. Shaving is an intervention, based on misogyny. [Allowing] your natural body to exist is so normal.”
Davis says racism “explains a lot of the hatred and entitlement society feels towards women and femmes with body hair, and the contempt it has for non-white women with body hair in particular.”
According to Davis, people are empowered by the ad, except for a few trolls who sent her DMs. “My dad actually made my photos his phone wallpaper and my mum loves them so much!” she says adding, “I’m beyond proud.”
An Adidas spokesperson tells Yahoo Life, “At adidas, we believe that through sport we have the power to change lives.
This is our singular purpose, it is why we show up each and every day.
And using the transformative power of sport for good is at the heart of what we do, whether that’s with our partners, through our products, our actions, or the imagery we hero to the world.
Sport belongs to everyone and we strive to cater to – and represent – all athletes.”
Check out the collection:
The sets are gorgeous! What do you think? Did they miss the mark on the imagery or can you get with it!
