Torrid will launch its Holiday campaign, “More The Merrier,” today! The campaign is centered around gathering with loved ones. In addition, the campaign will be featuring the ten women chosen from more than 8,000 submissions to #TeamTorrid, the brand’s first-ever casting call to find a group of diverse women within their community that reflect their customer base.
As it stands, 70% of women in the US are a size 14 or above. The women’s plus-size market accounts for almost 19 percent of the entire US women’s apparel sales, worth $113.8 billion (according to the NPD Group), so it only makes sense that Torrid would want to represent that 70%, and how diverse the plus size community is.
How Were They Chosen?
On May 19th, 2021, the plus size brand launched #TeamTorrid, their first virtual casting call created to find diverse women within their customer base to feature in their Holiday 2021 campaign.
Anyone interested was able to enter the casting call by submitting photos and a video that explained why they should be selected. In under two weeks, submissions for #TeamTorrid reached about 8,000!
Following the submissions, the 30 semi-finalists were selected to move forward and received clothing to style and share on their social media.
It was entirely up to the public to vote for the winners. These ten contestants from various backgrounds were chosen to be a part of #TeamTorrid and received an all-expense-paid trip to Los Angeles in August to be part of the brand’s Holiday campaign photoshoot.
They even got a fun bonus in advance of the photoshoot and received coaching from outstanding plus size actress and comedian Nicole Byer.
It sounds like a fantastic opportunity for both the winners and for the brand! Staying connected to your customer base is pivotal to staying relevant and ensuring they are catering to its customer base and their needs!
Meet The Winners Of #TeamTorrid
We wanted to celebrate each amazing woman that is a part of this plus size powerhouse team, so we wanted to give you a short introduction and an opportunity to follow each of these beauties!
Learn about each #TeamTorrid ambassador below!
- Anushree is an Aerospace Engineer based out of Sunnyvale, California.
- Growing up in India, Anushree recalls the difficulty she experienced when finding clothes for herself within a store and how it impacted her self-esteem and confidence. She credits the brand for pioneering the creation of inclusive clothing for all body shapes.Â
- Barb is based out of Windber, Pennsylvania. She is a disability advocate who has been using a wheelchair since her spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed from the waist down over ten years ago.
- Barb's mission has been to fight for the representation of disabled people, as the more they are seen, the more the public is conditioned to seeing them.
Based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Hillary is a beauty & lifestyle TV expert who shares the latest and greatest beauty and fashion trends.
Within her submission video, Hillary relayed how close she feels to "there is beauty in imperfection." With her submission, it was her goal to show that you can genuinely be your stripped-down self in a world where perfection is the ultimate goal.
Mariah is a photographer and graphic designer based out of Nyack, New York. Bullied for the way she looked throughout her life, with her submission to #TeamTorrid, she is breaking down the normalcy of bullying and providing much-needed representation in the mainstream.
Hailing from Los Angeles, California, Micayla is a singer who joined the #TeamTorrid casting call to represent all of the overlooked, marginalized, and patronized plus size minorities.Â
Joy is a Human Resources Manager and Safety Director based out of Windsor, Ontario. As a Canadian-Filipina, she entered to provide representation of her culture within the plus size community.
Angelina is a teacher based out of San Francisco, California.
Before the casting call, she relayed how Torrid was the first place she'd ever found clothes that truly fit her and jumped at the opportunity to be a part of the brand in a larger way.
Avery, based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, is a full-time student who has wanted to model for as long as she can remember but always struggled with that dream because she never thought she had the "right" body type or look to do so.
Growing up, she never saw anyone with her body in the media, and with #TeamTorrid, she now has the chance to be the representation she never had.
Currently residing in Bristol, Tennessee, but from Montego Bay, Jamaica, Brittany is a full-time nursing student.
Brittany relayed her love of the brand because it caters to her tall frame and provides a fantastic fit for her curves.
Monique is based out of Ridgeway, Virginia, working within Consumer Services and mom to two, and continuously cited how much of a dream it has been to be a part of #TeamTorrid.
Torrid’s More The Merrier Holiday Campaign
The winners of #TeamTorrid ’21 are all very diverse women from varying backgrounds, and will be featured within the brand’s holiday campaign centered around the theme of “More the Merrier” this season, and will appear on the brand’s social and digital channels, within paid digital ads, emails and within all 600 brick-and-mortar stores.
In addition to the holiday ad campaign, #TeamTorrid will be hosting in-store events throughout the US, serving as brand ambassadors and providing feedback and insight, and will continue to appear within the brand’s marketing channels.
So basically… you will be seeing a lot of these beautiful faces this holiday season, starting today!
Thoughts?
Can you believe it’s already the holiday season?! I don’t know about you guys, but I am soo excited!! My wallet, however, is not :p
Love all these beautiful women. Especially appreciate the inclusion of a wheelchair user. When you spend your life sitting, clothes look different on you. Only thing that would have made your group better would have been a gray haired grandma. We like to shop and express ourselves in our clothing too.