In the spring of 2004, the Campaign for Real Beauty launched in Europe with a print ad campaign like no other before it.

 

The campaign was a collaboration with celebrity photographer Ian Rankin and featured a group of very real women celebrating their very real body types, including fuller figures not typically portrayed in advertising. These six ordinary women were recruited off the street and chosen for their confidence and spark — bearing all in their underwear without having been airbrushed or re-touched in any way.

 

The campaign spurred instant discussions everywhere — and even a little controversy. Here are some highlights from the press.