Dubbed #InYourOwnSkin, their new campaign images include women whose skin you might normally see covered up or underrepresented in mainstream advertising. But rather than viewing their scars, birthmarks, freckles, albinism, and other skin conditions as 'imperfect', Missguided is embracing them in hopes of removing the stigma that surrounds skin that's simply different.
Why aren't more women diving? According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), 68 percent of all scuba diving participants and 74 percent of core participants (divers with eight years or more of experience) in 2016 were male. Those numbers mirror the stark disparity when it comes to professional divers too. In 2016, the diving certification trend tracked by gender was 63 percent male compared to 37 percent female according to the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI).
"In Morocco, 79 percent of boys in urban areas attend school compared to 26 percent of girls in rural areas. In some areas, up to 83 percent of women are married before the age of 18. "Girls weren't getting a chance at a future," she says. "Girls are extremely vulnerable to a cycle where they drop out of school, marry early, and become a young mother." In 2013, Montague and her husband, Chris Redecke, set up Project Soar with the hopes of breaking that cycle by keeping girls in school and providing them with options for their futures. Sports were a core component of the program. "My philosophy with my own two kids was that if they did sports they'd be fearless," says Montague."