Lizzo is busier than ever at the moment. She did double duty this weekend hosting and performing on Saturday Night Live, she’s gearing up to drop her highly-anticipated new album, Special, in July, and is celebrating the launch of her new shapewear line, Yitty, which debuted on April 12.
With her foray into the shapewear space, the singer is a mogul in the making, following the likes of Rihanna (with her lingerie brand Savage X Fenty) and Kim Kardashian (with her “solutionswear” brand, SKIMS). It could feel like a lot of pressure to stand out in a celebrity-saturated market, but in a new interview, Lizzo shared what makes Yitty different and why there’s room for everyone.
In a new interview, the “Good as Hell” singer spoke with WSJ, and opened up about when she first had the idea for her line, six years ago.
“I thought it was bizarre that nobody has tapped into this category in fashion,” Lizzo said. “Also, I hated this mentality of, ‘You’re not good enough.’ That’s what shapewear kind of represented: ‘I don’t look good enough in this dress so now this girdle is going to change that and make me look good and make me good enough.’ I was like, ‘Nah, we need to end that.’ We need to just create a product that is comfortable and doesn’t breed shame, because there was a lot of shame with me wearing shapewear growing up.”
When specifically asked if she’s “worried about going up against SKIMS,” Lizzo had a clear answer. “Well, no, because I don’t feel like I’m going up against anybody. I think that this market is wide open and there’s room for everybody.”
She explained that when SKIMS launched, which was about a year after she started having conversations about the shapewear space, it was “confirmation” to her that it was a topic that needed addressing. “I was grateful for it because it validated what I was saying. I think there’s room for both of us. What SKIMS does is different than what I do, and giving the power to the consumer is really what it’s all about.”
For Lizzo, what sets Yitty against the rest is celebrating every single body shape out there. “It’s not just hourglass, and that shouldn’t be the only desired body type,” she said. “There’s apple, there’s triangle, upside down triangle, there’s circle. There’s slim girls with no booty. They’re beautiful too, and they deserve to honor that shape and celebrate that shape and accentuate it if they want.”
Yitty, named after her childhood nickname, includes bras, bodysuits, shorts, leggings and more, with sizes ranging from XS-6X. The line, created in partnership with athleisure company Fabletics, launched with three different collections, the “Nearly Naked,” encompassing seamless pieces, “Major Label,” including daily lifestyle garments and “Mesh Me,” featuring versatile mesh styles that are interchangeable as outerwear.
When she first announced the line, she wrote on Instagram, that Yitty is a “welcome letter to Every Body. This is *not* an invitation to change who you are… this is an opportunity to BE who you are on your terms.”
In keeping with her overall mission of Yitty, being unapologetically you, Lizzo also opened up to in her new interview about a piece of advice that’s been a guiding force for her, from none other than Missy Elliott.
She explained that while filming their music video, “Tempo,” she would “shrink” herself to get on Elliott’s shorter stature. “She was like, ‘Quit doing that. Don’t ever shrink yourself on your set. This is your music video. You are the star. Whenever that s**t is yours, don’t ever make yourself smaller for other people.’ And I took that across the board.”
Lizzo applied that same mentality to other aspects of life. “Don’t shrink yourself in a literal way to make people comfortable, don’t shrink yourself creatively. Don’t limit yourself as a businesswoman. Don’t shrink yourself when you’re standing up for yourself in your personal life, in your relationships with people. And that was really helpful, because I’m such a socially conscious person. I’m always like, ‘Is everybody OK?’ Nah, I hope you’re OK, but I want to make sure I’m OK too.”
With the launch of her new line, we have a feeling this is just the start for more mogul’ing to come for the superstar.
