Lauren Chan on the Impact of Image Retouching in the Modeling Industry

Lauren Chan.Alberto Tamargo/Getty Images

Earlier this week, model Lauren Chan took the opportunity to share some thoughtful commentary on the concept of retouching photographs in the fashion industry.

The Canadian entrepreneur used a few snapshots of herself from a Victoria’s Secret campaign to illustrate her thoughts. Chan shared both an unretouched version and a lightly edited version of the same image in a Feb. 28 Instagram carousel.

“It is so important to have size representation at brands like VS—and even more integral that models’ bodies/proportions/sizes are celebrated as they truly exist,” the 2023 SI Swimsuit rookie wrote in her caption. “This may seem like a passing thought, but seeing a body like mine without a ton of Photoshop on victoriassecret.com would certainly have made me hate myself less in my younger years. [Representation] matters. 🖤.”

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Clearly, plenty of Chan’s friends and fans resonated with the message, as several of her 89,900 followers on the platform chimed in to the comments section with feedback.

“Continue to educate and represent thank you for all your work ❤👏,” one person encouraged.

Meanwhile, others took the opportunity to compliment Chan’s beauty.

“So beautiful!!!!!” ’24 SI Swimsuit rookie Sharina Gutierrez gushed.

“she a jaw dropper show stopper 🔥👏,” television personality Meredith Shaw added.

“You are seriously STUNNING 🔥😍 WOW,” someone else applauded.

Chan, a former fashion writer and editor, was recently honored by the State Assembly of New York, where she was recognized for her ongoing work to make the fashion industry more inclusive. Read more about the event here.