The triple Grammy-winning Lizzo, who took to Glastonbury’s stage in 2019 to demand the crowd start a new self-love mantra (stand in front of the mirror and repeat: “I love you, you are beautiful and you can do anything”), is building on the body positivity she preaches.
After three years in the making, the singer has revealed her new shapewear brand, Yitty.
It is named after her childhood nickname (and is often used as a synonym for her breasts on Instagram). As you might expect, it revolves around boosting body-positivity and self-confidence, boiled down into three categories: Nearly Naked, a lightweight seamless collection for sculpting the body; Mesh Me, which moves into fashion, and can be worn as outerwear; and Major Label, which involves everyday lifestyle pieces like leggings and pull overs (and promises to be ‘super soft, super bossy, and super Yitty’, as per a statement).
After a lifetime of comments and criticism of her own body, the ‘Truth Hurts’ artist feels she is the right person to offer up truly functional designs. “I was constantly being told through TV and magazines that my body wasn’t good enough and in order to be considered ‘acceptable’ I had to inflict some sort of pain upon it to fit into an archetype of beauty,” she says. “Because of this, I’ve been wearing shapewear for a long time, maybe since I was in fifth or sixth grade.”
“I was tired of seeing this sad, restrictive shapewear that literally no-one wanted to wear. I had an epiphany like, ‘who can actually do something about this?’ I decided to take on the challenge of allowing women to feel unapologetically good about themselves again,” says Lizzo.
There is another famous face who had the same the idea. Kim Kardashian’s ‘solutionwear’ brand Skims disrupted the shapewear market when she founded it in 2019. In its first year, the company claims to have shifted over three million products, and is now valued at a hefty $3 billion. Who can blame Lizzo for wanting a slice, too?
Lizzo has a proven mission of pushing the acceptance of all body types, in song lyrics, in concert and online. “Instead of thinking about size in this linear way, we’re thinking about it on a spectrum where everyone is included,” she says. “Everyone’s size is just their size. It’s not high, it’s not low. It’s not big, it’s not small. It’s just your size.”
To start the business, Lizzo has partnered with Fabletics. Inc, an affordable active wear company who also helped start Rihanna’s lingered line Savage x Fenty. The resulting collaboration sees butterfly print bodysuits, supportive neon shade bra sets, logo hoodies and electric shade leggings, on sale from April 12.
“She is famous for her music, but beloved for her commitment to driving important social change,” says Kristen Dykstra, President of Yitty. “Creating this brand has been a long-term dream of hers; to revolutionize shapewear and build a brand and community that makes a difference in people’s lives.”
So, do your hair toss, check your nails – slip into Yitty – and get feelin’ good as hell.
