This Body-Positive Lingerie Line Has One Major Flaw

UPDATE: Hayat Rachi reached out to let us know that she fully intends to invest this new funding into more sizes (bigger and smaller) in the future.  In the past few days, there's been a lot of buzz around Neon Moon, a new U.K.-based lingerie company — and for good reason. Founder and CEO Hayat Rachi set out with the lofty goal of creating a lingerie company in line with her own feminist ethos: "empowerment, body confidence, and the non-objectification of women." As Rachi says on her Kickstarter page, "I wish to change the lingerie industry by catering to women of all sizes, ethnicities, and body types, including women who embrace pubic, leg, and underarm hair."  We give Rachi huge kudos. But, for all this talk about body positivity, there is one glaring flaw in her project: Rachi is only creating underwear for U.K. sizes 8-14 (for reference, that's U.S. sizes 4-12). Not only do these sizes exhibit a lack of body diversity; they won't even fit the average U.K. woman (size 16). Many brands don't produce plus-size clothing due to design and financial challenges. That's a big-picture problem in the fashion industry — frankly, one we wouldn't expect a small, Kickstarted label to solve. But, Neon Moon claims its entire existence is based on addressing this issue. Rachi's models are not retouched and don't conform to typical lingerie-model standards. "I wanted to show what a real woman looks like," she says. Therein lies the potential problem. Regardless of her inarguable talent and earnest intent, Rachi still seems to be operating under the old "real woman" thesis. Because, of course, size-2 women are real. But, so are size-18 women. They exist, and they wear underwear, too. What good is a body-positive lingerie line if it ignores the vast majority of women it claims to serve?   The website and Kickstarter page do not currently list any plans to expand the line outside these sizes. But, the company is still young, and we're holding out hope that its inclusive message is more than just a gimmick. As of this week, Neon Moon has hit its fundraising goal. We'll see whether Hayat Rachi will put that money where her mouth is.