EXCLUSIVE: Bluebella Taps Self Esteem for Valentine’s Day
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Bluebella has a new muse: it’s Self Esteem.
Not the inner self-respect and confidence kind, but the English singer, songwriter and actress, whose real name is Rebecca Lucy Taylor. The London-based lingerie brand has teamed up with the artist for its Valentine’s Day campaign, entitled “Prioritise Pleasure,” which also happens to be the name of a Self Esteem song.
More from WWD
Emily Bendell, founder and chief executive officer of Bluebella, said the brand’s partnership with Self Esteem is the perfect union.
“We are big fans of her here at Bluebella and thought she would be a great partner to celebrate unapologetic femininity, body positivity and pleasure,” Bendell told WWD. “We love Self Esteem’s bold feminism, her talent as a musician and her authentic journey toward self-love and acceptance.
“And Bluebella and Self Esteem share a lot of the same feminist values,” the founder continued. “Part of Bluebella’s mission is to redefine the conventional meaning behind Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s is traditionally very much a heteronormative festival that can feel negative and exclusionary to so many. That is counter to everything we believe in: sensuality as something owned not shared and celebrating love in all its wonderfully diverse forms. So, each year we seek to reframe Valentine’s as a festival to celebrate self-love and the many and varied passions that drive us.”
Self Esteem — who poses for the campaign in fiery red lace bras and strappy black underthings from the brand’s spring 2023 lingerie collection — echoes the sentiment.
“It seems stupid to me that there’s anything that can make people feel alone or not like anyone else,” the musician said.
“I always say it’s Valentine’s Day every bloody day of the year in my mind,” Self Esteem continued.
The singer-songwriter added in a recent Instagram Live interview with Bendell that she agreed to do the lingerie campaign because in the past her body was something she was ashamed of.
“I got boobs early and generally I was [using] a minimizer bra right away,” she explained. “My whole MO of my being was, like, just hide them. And I see now how sad that is.
“Fashion helps me have fun with the things that I’ve previously been ashamed of, or thought weren’t right,” Self Esteem continued. “Lingerie before represented danger in the way I sort of grew up. I had a weird relationship with lingerie where previously it was a tool to help me shrink and disappear and now it’s quite the opposite and now I’m having so much more fun and I love it and I talk about it online quite a bit. So all of this is bigger than me just doing a modeling job. This campaign to me is about, this is what my body is, and I’m enjoying it and I’m proud of it and it’s gorgeous or whatever.”
The lingerie brand’s Valentine’s Day campaign launches on Monday.
Bluebella was founded by Bendell out of her bedroom in 2005 after the fashion entrepreneur couldn’t find any lingerie that suited her taste.
“I wanted to create a brand and product that was empowered, confident, sassy, contemporary and fashion-focused,” Bendell said. “To me, lingerie is self-expression of individual style and spirit.”
The business has since grown to include other categories, such as hosiery, sleepwear and innerwear-as-outerwear apparel.
“If it’s too pretty to hide, why hide it?” Bendell said last year.
Most recently, Bluebella partnered with the London-based Indian designer Ashish for a limited-edition collaboration. The firm also has wholesale partnerships with Victoria’s Secret, Revolve, Nordstrom and Selfridges, among others, in addition to its e-commerce shop. Last fall, Bluebella cast Clara McGregor, Ewan McGregor’s daughter, for its holiday collection and campaign.
