
This week is the official launch of Ann Taylor’s new Pants Are Power campaign, celebrating the brand’s 60-year commitment to empower women to feel confident in their wardrobes. The campaign commemorates the evolution of pants, not only as fashion, but as a symbol of equality for women. The official campaign video was launched on March 1, the first day of National Women’s History Month.
The 30-second video clip (view it below) follows the journey from 1940, when women could still be arrested for wearing pants in public, to 2018, when females freely wear trousers whenever, wherever. It’s a nod to strong women who, in the not-so-distant past, fought for the right to wear pants to work and at home.
Today, we love our trousers, jeans, leggings, chinos, capris and shorts so much that we can’t imagine living without them.
What a long way the fashion world, and the Ann Taylor brand, have come. The company began in 1954 with little more than a dress and a dream, when Richard Liebeskind opened his first shop in New Haven, Connecticut. He named it “Ann Taylor” after the best-selling dress style that was sold in his father’s store. That dress represented his vision of the modern, stylish American woman. Since then, Ann Taylor has grown from a regional chain to 242 full-price locations and 122 outlet stores across North America.
I’d find it even more empowering to know I can dress like a woman, in a skirt, and still receive the same level of respect as a man. When did “equal to” men become “the same as” men?