Yahoo Finance Ashley Graham Tapped as Knix’s First Global Brand Ambassador
Ashley Graham is continuing her mission of making the fashion industry more inclusive with a new role.
The model is teaming with Canadian intimates brand Knix as its first global brand ambassador. Graham, who is an investor in the eight-year-old brand, also serves as the face of Knix’s new activewear collection, called Knix Active. This is the brand’s first venture into activewear.
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“The idea behind the collection was really this concept that we wanted to take back the idea of movement in fitness and really support the message that we’re not just moving to meet people’s standards or fit a certain ideal,” said Knix founder and chief executive officer Joanna Griffiths during a virtual press event. “We’re moving for ourselves and our mental health and because it feels good and it feels right.”
The Knix Active 30-piece collection offers functional activewear, such as high-impact and low-impact sports bras, leakproof leggings and comfortable sweatshirts. The collection falls in line with Knix’s commitment to being size inclusive and is offered in sizes ranging from XS to XXXXL with sports bras ranging from sizes 28 to 44 and cup sizes from A to H. The collection is priced at $18 to $179.
Courtesy of Knix
Graham was first a customer of the brand before partnering with Knix. She said she was drawn to Knix’s comfortable and functional sports bras and the brand’s commitment to size inclusivity both in terms of its offerings and its grading system when creating the sizes.
“We’ve been talking about size, but it’s not just about size, it’s about the grading system within sizing,” Graham said during the press event on how the fashion industry can further promote inclusivity. “It’s not just about going up [in size], but it’s about taking the grading of a true mannequin and thinking about what sizes you’re going up to and the different curves and ways a woman’s body is shaped. To me, it’s the education that starts before the actual collection comes out.”
The Knix Activewear brand is the latest initiative to come from the brand following its $40 million minority growth equity funding round in May, which Graham participated in. Knix also recently expanded its assortment to shapewear in January.
Griffiths also spoke about how social media has helped hold Knix accountable to continuing its inclusive mission.
“One of our values at Knix is to be a mirror of the world,” she said. “We are constantly evolving the way we show up and the conversations that we’re having to be reflective of what’s going on around us. I think when I look at other brands within the intimates category that at one point dominated the world, they refused to adapt, evolve and acknowledge what was going on and so we’re really impacted by social media and the conversations our customers want to have. It affects everything we do.”
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