Glossy: Pamela Anderson fronts Aerie’s anti-AI push as it bans generated bodies

By: Zofia Zwieglinska | Link to article

Aerie is taking a clear stance against AI-generated bodies.

In October 2025, the American Eagle Outfitters–owned intimates brand formalized its latest commitment: “100% Aerie Real,” a pledge to never use AI-generated people or bodies in its marketing. The move builds on its 2014 decision to stop retouching models, a policy that helped define the brand’s identity and set it apart in the intimates market.

Now, the company is scaling that message with its most visible campaign to date, anchored by a film starring Pamela Anderson. The spot opens inside a stark, AI-generated interface that mimics a prompt exchange, with Anderson’s voice directing the system to generate models, adjust their look, and refine their mood and energy. Each output appears instantly, but none feels fully human. A camera shutter interrupts the sequence, collapsing the artificial setting and cutting to a live Aerie shoot, where the same models reappear as real models, moving and interacting on set. Anderson is revealed at the center of it, delivering the line, “You can’t prompt this.”

Her recent reintroduction into culture on her own terms inspired the casting. Over the past three years, Anderson has stepped away from heavy styling and digital polish, appearing publicly without makeup and speaking openly about rejecting artificial beauty standards, a shift that has resonated across fashion and media.

Jennifer Foyle, president and executive creative director of American Eagle and Aerie, tied the pledge to the brand’s long-standing approach. “Aerie set a new standard for the industry in 2014 when we promised to never retouch our models, and it hasn’t wavered from keeping authenticity at the forefront of everything the brand stands for,” she said. “Now, the commitment to 100% Aerie Real is a reaffirmation that everything our community sees from us is the same ‘real’ they see when they look in the mirror.”

The push comes as generative AI tools continue to blur the line between real and synthetic content. Since 2024, brands including H&M and Mango have tested AI-generated models in campaigns, while Zara and Nike have expanded AI across marketing and product development, according to The Guardian, Business of Fashion and Business Insider.

Stacey McCormick, Aerie’s CMO, said the industry changes prompted the brand to make its position explicit. “Now, more than ever, we get a sense that people don’t know what they see today. Is it real? Is it not? Is it generated?” she said, talking about how brands show up on social media and their sites. “We want people to feel confident when they look at our images and our marketing. It should make them feel assured that what they see is what they get.”

Inside the business, the commitment extends across teams and processes. “It really is shifting the culture of the company,” McCormick said. “It’s an operational commitment that touches leadership, partnerships and the creative process. We’ve had to define very clearly what we will do and what we won’t do.”

That includes drawing a clear boundary around how AI is used. “We’re not resisting AI,” she said. “We are redefining the value of AI. In an industry where everything is generated, real becomes unique, and real becomes special, and real becomes rare.” The guidelines prohibit the use of AI-generated people or bodies across campaigns and creator content, while allowing AI tools in areas like media buying, analytics and performance marketing.

The same standards apply to external partners. Creators working with the brand are required to avoid AI-generated content, even as platforms introduce more generative tools into their ecosystems. Instagram, owned by Meta, has rolled out AI-powered editing and image-generation features for creators, while expanding AI across advertising and content production. At the same time, Instagram head Adam Mosseri has said in recent posts and interviews with Business Insider that the rise of AI-generated content is making it harder to distinguish what is real, as the platform pushes toward greater transparency around synthetic media.

The strategy is also supported by continued investment in physical retail and in-person experiences. Stores account for roughly half of the business, according to McCormick, and Aerie continues to open more than 40 locations a year, alongside IRL events designed to deepen community connection.

Since introducing the message in October, the brand has seen double-digit growth in awareness, alongside consistent engagement across social channels. McCormick pointed to trust as a key factor at the point of purchase. “If you’re looking at something on your screen and about to hit go, but you can’t quite tell if that’s a real garment or something that’s been generated, that matters,” she said. “Trusting what you see is very important.”

Foyle said the goal is to reinforce that relationship with customers while setting a clear standard. “As AI and digital technologies blur the lines of creativity and reality, we knew it was time for Aerie to take a clear stance on our values and our marketing,” she said. “If our commitment strengthens our relationship with our customers and helps drive more transparency across the industry, then we’ve done what we set out to do.”

The campaign will run across paid and owned channels, including YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, Disney, HBO, NBCUniversal, Roku and Samsung, alongside Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest. The 100% Aerie Real pledge will continue to appear across all brand touchpoints, from national campaigns to in-store messaging.

For Aerie, the message is straightforward: what customers see is real.

Vogue Business: Aerie Takes a Stand Against AI Marketing With Pamela Anderson

By: Amy O’ Brien | Link to article

What does “real” mean in the AI era? For Aerie, American Eagle Outfitter’s loungewear and lingerie brand, realness is entirely human — untouched or altered by AI. As consumers and brands wrestle with how to approach the rapidly advancing tech, the brand is taking a stance against it. In October last year, Aerie expanded its “100% Aerie Real” anti-retouching pledge to never use AI-generated bodies or people in their marketing. And today, the brand is taking it one step further with the release of a bold new anti-AI film campaign, starring untouched beauty advocate Pamela Anderson.

What does “real” mean in the AI era? For Aerie, American Eagle Outfitter’s loungewear and lingerie brand, realness is entirely human — untouched or altered by AI. As consumers and brands wrestle with how to approach the rapidly advancing tech, the brand is taking a stance against it. In October last year, Aerie expanded its “100% Aerie Real” anti-retouching pledge to never use AI-generated bodies or people in their marketing. And today, the brand is taking it one step further with the release of a bold new anti-AI film campaign, starring untouched beauty advocate Pamela Anderson. 

“I thought it was a clever way to draw attention to [AI images] because it’s very worrisome,” Anderson tells Vogue. “To me, as a woman, as a consumer, as a mother, I always think, what is happening? What is the difference between AI and real? How are we supposed to know? It was already disheartening at times to look at fashion magazines and see celebrities and models with retouching, but this is another level.”

Ever since appearing at Paris Fashion Week makeup-free in 2023, Anderson has become a leading voice for natural beauty and ageing authentically. In the film, which will live across Aerie’s social channels, as well as placements on YouTube, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney, and HBO, her voice acts as the prompting force issuing commands into a supposedly AI-generated world, unable to achieve the authentic human “real-feeling” result she wants from a scene with lifeless models. The scene then dissolves into a “real” Aerie set, where the models come alive, and Anderson appears before the camera to say: “You can’t prompt this.”

A large part of luxury marketing is amping up its messaging around craft, process, and humanity, with brands like Loewe, Bottega Veneta, Jacquemus, and Miu Miu all centering their recent campaigns around these values and showcasing the handmaking processes behind their products. Another tranche have leaned into AI imagery — most recently Prada, via its Spring/Summer 2026 campaign with artist Jordan Wolfson, as well as Gucci and Valentino — but faced backlash from creatives and consumers online. Aerie, however, is one of the first fashion brands to adopt an explicit anti-AI stance as the central message in its marketing. It’s a bold tactic that seems to be resonating with consumers. The brand dropped its first “real people” anti-AI Instagram campaign in October last year, which quickly went viral.

“Since we soft-launched the anti-AI message in October, we’ve seen double-digit growth in brand awareness,” says Stacey McCormick, Aerie’s Chief Marketing Officer. The Aerie brand reported a 23% increase in sales in the fourth quarter of 2025. “We’ve also seen a very strong shift in our awareness and consideration.”

I sit down with Pamela Anderson and Stacey McCormick to find out more about the new film, and the branding strategy behind Aerie’s anti-AI marketing pledge.

Vogue: We live in a world where you open up Instagram and you’re unsure if what you’re seeing is real or AI. What’s your take on what that’s doing to young people’s views on beauty standards?

Pamela: I think you have to create your own beauty standards. I mean, why do we want to look like other people? It’s all subjective. What is beauty? I’m almost 60 years old. I’ve gone through my life lessons, but I am happier now after peeling it back. It’s still a process and a practice to be self-accepting. In a digital world, it’s even harsher than back in the day when things were filmed. What you see to the naked eye isn’t even what you see on your camera phone. So we’re all being hypercritical of ourselves, and I think we need to do less of that.

I don’t mind taking one for all of womenkind. I’m not retouching or filtering. This is just what it is, and it’s so freeing. It’s so much more interesting to look perfectly imperfect. I like to align myself with brands who are trying new things and the messaging has to be something more than just selling clothes or selling a brand. I just really want it to be educational and inspirational in some way.

Stacey: The other part for us is the impact on mental health, and the negative impact on self-esteem and confidence. It’s almost like it’s completely flipped, where we thought we were making so much progress with challenging artificial beauty standards, and then AI happens. How do you even compete with a fake, AI-generated model? The impact on youth and anybody consuming that content is real. So we advocate for others to join us and to help preserve real content and real beauty and show up in a real space, to help as consumers are now navigating the world of AI-generated content.

Vogue: It’s interesting what you say about the subjectivity of beauty, because a lot of the AI imagery we see is trained on very polished stock or editorial campaign images. What’s your view on what this convergence means for consumers and professional models?

Pamela: We always romanticize our golden years, but I remember in the ’90s — everyone looked different. But over the last few years, it’s like, wow, we’re starting to look the same. So I think it’s rebellious to just look like yourself and really double down on that and not fall into the trappings, which is hard when you’re young.

That’s why I thought this campaign is a much-needed conversation. I’m an analog girl, I have my transistor radio that I listen to. There’s so many little things you can do like that, which help to not kind of get sucked up by the machine. And so drawing attention to things like this is important because it’s eye-opening, friendly, and accepting. I can’t even imagine being a young person in these times. So as long as you’re aware of where AI is used, then you can make better choices.

Vogue: We’re in a phase of lots of AI image experimentation. Do you think the consumer actually wants that? Do you reckon more are going to make a stance like Aerie’s?

Pamela: I don’t think you can ever replace human beings. Maybe AI will start becoming imperfect like humans. That would be scary. But you can’t replace human beings, and I feel like there will not necessarily be pushback. The only person you can control is yourself and in your own small way, you can make a stand for what you believe in. How boring would it be if everything was just perfect? It’s all subjective, and you’ve got to imprint yourself with unique things. Go to museums, galleries, watch old movies. You’ve got to kind of balance it all out with the AI you’re being subjected to.

Stacey: My gut tells me that as long as this younger generation continues to value transparency and trust and authenticity, AI is not going to make it very far in the fashion landscape unless it’s transparently disclosed — and unless it’s stated that you’re looking at AI. We’ve seen that consumers question the integrity of the product itself when they can’t trust if what they’re looking at is real. So I think as soon as they feel that what they’re looking at may not be real, it would be a quick pivot away.

Vogue: Stacey, why did Aerie decide to make anti-AI the central marketing message for Aerie?

Stacey: For the past 10 years, we’ve built being real — with no retouching — into our brand purpose, and it’s our number one marketing pillar. So when AI started creeping up in the conversation around two years ago, we really had to establish our boundaries and think about what had to change operationally. AI was getting thrown at us like crazy, so what do we stand up from a brand standpoint? So that’s where it became a no-brainer: no retouching and no AI- generated people or bodies, ever. You will see real content from us created by real people in a real environment. We have really thought about how in this industry, where everything is becoming generated, real becomes more rare and unique. So it’s not that we’re resisting AI, we just feel very strongly that we want to redefine ‘real’ in the AI world. It’s gone from no retouching to always using real people.

Vogue: How has this ‘real’ and anti-AI stance resonated with customers so far?

Stacey: We soft-launched the anti-AI campaign in October on our social media for millions of people to see, targeting a wide audience. Since then, we’ve seen double-digit growth and brand awareness. We’ve seen brand consideration upwards of 10% increase going into and through Q4 2025. So we’ve seen some strong KPI shifts since we’ve amplified this message. Now, can you attribute that to amplifying more or the marketing message? We didn’t test one against the other, but we can safely say since we’ve amplified this marketing message — we’ve seen a very strong shift in our awareness and our consideration.

Then, for our Gen Z customers, they’ve really grown up through that era doubting everything, not trusting anything — brands have to have purpose and integrity. Now, more than ever, they see through every single thing — especially AI.

Vogue: Do you carry this stance through to your work with external partners?

Stacey: We control all our campaign content in-house. Our photographers are in-house. We shoot in-house — we take them on the road, we shoot our campaigns in-house. Retouching doesn’t exist in our world. We call it image processing, where we color and get the consistency there and convert to res that’s ready to post, that’s all in-house. We don’t third-party, any of that, which is important for us to be able to control where it’s used. Then, with our creators, we have a strict creator rule for editing content with no retouching or AI, and only shooting it in environments that are real. All of our influencer, PR, and talent agencies follow that as well.

We like to think that we are keeping it really tight, but it’s exactly the concern as more hands get brought in and more tools get brought in, how much control can you have if you’re not able to know who’s actually doing the work? It’s definitely a real concern, as people are thinking about the challenges of scale and how do you do more, faster, with budget cuts. We’re figuring that out within our own organization, and we’ve been very clear that we need to preserve the creative content budget in its real state.

American Eagle Outfitters Reports Fourth Quarter Results

AEO Inc. Reports Strong Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2025 Results; Provides Fiscal 2026 Outlook
  • Total revenue increased 10% to a record $1.8 billion, driven by total comparable sales increase of 8% with positive results across brands
  • Aerie comps +23%, American Eagle comps +2%
  • Returned $341 million to shareholders in 2025 from $256 million in shares repurchases and $85 million in dividends
  • Fiscal 2026 operating income guidance of $390 to $410 million

PITTSBURGH, March 4, 2026 –  American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE: AEO) today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended January 31, 2026, and provided its outlook for fiscal year 2026.

Jay Schottenstein, Executive Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, AEO Inc., commented, “I am extremely pleased with the strong execution in the back half of the year, which reignited growth across our brands and channels.  Building on the improved trends beginning last summer, we achieved a record fourth quarter and holiday period, with double digit growth at Aerie and OFFLINE and solid, positive performance at American Eagle.  Compelling new product collections, supported by fresh marketing campaigns, led to higher demand trends in the quarter.  I want to thank our associates for their resilience and outstanding execution to deliver a strong finish to 2025.”

“We enter 2026 from a position of strength with the goal of building on this year’s successes. The first quarter is off to a positive start and we remain focused on investing in our brands and driving additional corporate savings and efficiency across the business.  I’m confident that our strategic actions will lead to long-term profitable growth and shareholder value creation,” he concluded.

Fourth Quarter 2025 Results:

  • Total net revenue of $1.8 billion increased 10% to last year.  Total comparable sales increased 8%, on top of 3% comp growth last year.
  • Aerie comparable sales increased 23% on a 6% increase last year. American Eagle comparable sales grew 2% following 1% growth last year.
  • Gross profit of $651 million rose 9% from $599 million last year.  The gross margin of 37.0% declined 30 basis points to last year.
    • The net tariff impact was $50 million or 280 basis points to gross margin.  Increased markdowns were largely offset by leverage on positive sales combined with lower costs, favorable currency and operational efficiencies.
    • Buying, Occupancy and Warehousing (BOW) expenses leveraged 50 basis points due to positive sales.
  • Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses increased 4% to $418 million, leveraging 120 basis points to a rate of 23.8% to revenue.  Overall cost efficiencies and lower incentives were offset by planned investments in advertising.
  • GAAP operating profit was $96 million, which includes $84 million of impairment and restructuring charges related to the company’s exit from the Quiet Platform third party logistics business, store impairments and general corporate restructuring. 
  • Adjusted operating profit of $180 million increased 27% from $142 million last year.  The adjusted operating margin of 10.2% expanded 130 basis points from 8.9% last year.
  • Other income of $15 million reflected unrealized gains on investments previously disclosed.
  • GAAP Diluted earnings per share of $0.50 compared to $0.54 last year.
  • Adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.84 compared to $0.54 last year.  Average diluted shares outstanding were 176 million.

Fiscal Year 2025 Results:

  • Total net revenue of $5.5 billion increased 3% versus last year.  Total comparable sales increased 3%, on top of 4% comp growth last year.
  • Aerie comparable sales increased 9% on 5% growth last year. American Eagle comparable sales were flat following 3% growth last year.
  • Gross profit of $2.0 billion decreased 3%. Gross margin of 36.9% decreased 230 basis points largely reflecting an inventory write-down taken in the first quarter, higher markdowns and the impact of tariffs, partially offset by business improvement and cost efficiencies in the second half of the year.
  • Selling, general and administrative expense of $1.5 billion increased 4%, up 10 basis points as a rate to revenue.  Lower incentive costs and general cost savings were offset by planned investments in advertising.
  • GAAP Operating income of $226 million, which includes $102 million of impairment and restructuring charges related to the company’s exit from the Quiet Platforms third party logistics business, store impairments and general corporate restructuring. GAAP operating income was $427 million last year.
  • Adjusted operating income of $328 million compared to adjusted operating income of $445 million last year.
  • GAAP diluted earnings per share was $1.09 compared to $1.68 last year.
  • Adjusted diluted earnings per share was $1.50 compared to adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.74 last year. Average diluted shares outstanding were 176 million.

Inventory

Total ending inventory increased 10% to $702 million with units up 3%. Ending cost inventory includes the impact of tariffs.

Shareholder Returns

In the fourth quarter the company repurchased one million shares for $25 million, bringing full year repurchases to 21 million shares for $256 million.  The company also returned $21 million to shareholders via its quarterly cash dividend of $0.125 per share, bringing year-to-date cash dividends to $85 million.

Capital Expenditures

Capital expenditures totaled $59 million in the fourth quarter, bringing full year spend to $261 million.  The company expects 2026 capital expenditures to be in the range of $250 to $260 million.

Outlook

*All guidance is based on estimates and includes tariffs reflecting 2025 IEEPA guidelines. 

 First Quarter 2026 OutlookFiscal Year 2026 Outlook
Comparable Sales+High Single Digit+Mid Single Digit
Gross MarginUp YoYUp YoY
SG&A+10%+MSD
Depreciation and Amortization$54 M$225 M
Operating Income$20 to $25 M$390 to $410 M
Weighted Average Share Count176 M177 M  
Capital Expenditures–$250 to $260 M

* * * *

About American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE: AEO) is a leading global specialty retailer with a portfolio of beloved apparel brands including American Eagle, Aerie, OFFL/NE by Aerie, Todd Snyder and Unsubscribed. Rooted in optimism, inclusivity and authenticity, AEO’s brands empower every customer to celebrate their unique personal style by offering casual, comfortable, timeless outfitting and high-quality products that are made to last.

AEO Inc. operates stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with merchandise available in more than 30 countries through a global network of license partners. Additionally, the company operates a robust e-commerce business across its brands. For more information, visit aeo-inc.com.

Non-GAAP Measures

This press release includes operating income and diluted earnings per share presented on an “adjusted” or “non-GAAP” basis, which are non-GAAP financial measures. Non-GAAP financial measures are not based on any standardized methodology prescribed by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and are not necessarily comparable to similar measures presented by other companies.  Non-GAAP information is provided as a supplement to, not as a substitute for, or as superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. We believe that this non-GAAP information is useful as an additional means for investors to evaluate our operating performance when reviewed in conjunction with our GAAP Consolidated Financial Statements and provides a higher degree of transparency. These amounts are not determined in accordance with GAAP and, therefore, should not be used exclusively in evaluating our business and operations. The tables included in this release reconcile the GAAP financial measures to the non-GAAP financial measures discussed above for the 13 weeks ended January 31, 2026 and both the 52 weeks ended January 31, 2026 and February 1, 2025.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

This release and related statements by management contain forward-looking statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995), which represent management’s expectations or beliefs concerning future events, including, without limitation, expected results for the first quarter and full-year Fiscal 2026. Words such as “outlook,” “estimate,” “project,” “plan,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “may,” “potential,” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. All forward-looking statements made by the company are inherently uncertain because they are based on assumptions and expectations concerning future events and are subject to change based on many important factors, some of which may be beyond the company’s control. Except as may be required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise and even if experience or future changes make it clear that any projected results expressed or implied therein will not be realized. The following factors, in addition to the risks disclosed in Item 1A., Risk Factors, of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 1, 2025 and in any other filings that we may make with the Securities and Exchange Commission, in some cases have affected, and in the future could affect, the company’s financial performance and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any of the forward-looking statements included in this release or otherwise made by management: the risk that the company’s operating, financial and capital plans may not be achieved; our inability to anticipate fluctuations in customer demand and respond to changing consumer preferences and fashion trends and to manage our inventory commensurately; the seasonality of our business; our inability to achieve planned store financial performance; our inability to react to raw material cost, labor and energy cost increases; our inability to gain market share in the face of declining shopping center traffic or attract customers to our stores; our inability to respond to changes in e-commerce and leverage omni-channel capabilities; our inability to execute on our key business priorities; our inability to expand internationally; difficulty with our international merchandise sourcing strategies; the impact that import tariffs and other trade restrictions imposed by the U.S., China or other countries have had, and may continue to have, on our product costs, as well as continued uncertainty with respect to tariffs and other trade restrictions; the possibility that product costs may be affected by other foreign trade issues, such as currency exchange rate fluctuations, increasing prices for raw materials, supply chain issues, political instability or other reasons; challenges with information technology systems, including safeguarding against security breaches; changes to U.S. or other countries’ trade policies and tariff and import/export regulations, and global economic, public health, social, political and financial conditions, and the resulting impact on consumer confidence and consumer spending, as well as other changes in consumer discretionary spending habits, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and liquidity.

The use of the “company,” “AEO,” “we,” “us,” and “our” in this release refers to American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.

WWD: American Eagle Taps Country Star Bailey Zimmerman for Campaign

By: Jean E. Palmieri | Link to article

The artist joins Ella Langley in the company’s ads as it gears up for its first Stagecoach sponsorship this April

The stars were aligned for American Eagle Outfitters.

The company recognized a while ago that country music has become the genre of choice for its Gen Z customers. So it started conversations with a few artists that it believed would connect with these young people.

First up was Ella Langley, who signed with the company for her first fashion campaign. Her ads broke the same week that she made history by becoming the first woman to ever top the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts at the same time with her song “Choosin’ Texas.”

The response from American Eagle customers has been enormous, according to Craig Brommers, chief marketing officer.

“You develop these campaigns months in advance, and we knew we wanted to partner with Ella,” he said. “But the timing couldn’t have been better, and our customers are going crazy over the campaign.”

He said sales have “exploded” on the two fits Langley is wearing in the campaign — the Kick bootcut and a flare. “I can’t say that it’s only because of Ella, but we know Ella is making an immediate impact. We call her the denim darling, and she’s living up to it.”

Now American Eagle is adding a man to its country campaign: Bailey Zimmerman. The 26-year-old Zimmerman, a multiplatinum artist with five number-one singles and 7.5 billion global streams who kicked off his first headline arena tour last week, is another one of country’s newest stars. His debut album, “Religiously. The Album,” was the biggest streaming debut for a country album in history when it was released in 2023. His second album, “Different Night Same Rodeo,” was released in August 2025 and sparked the arena tour of the same name.

Both the Zimmerman and Langley partnerships are tied to Stagecoach, the world’s largest country music festival, which will be held April 24 to 26 in Indio, Calif. American Eagle is debuting as the festival’s exclusive apparel and denim sponsor and will be creating custom stage looks for both artists for their performances on the first day of the event.

Brommers said Zimmerman is “just so full of energy and optimism. His crossover appeal is real. Gen Z women are enamored of him, and Gen Z guys look up to him.”

Zimmerman has a very active social media presence, where he has made no secret of his ADHD, getting his teeth fixed, loving on his two golden retrievers, who accompanied him to the American Eagle shoot, and buying his mother a house. He also moans about how he doesn’t have a girlfriend.

Brommers said his American Eagle campaign could help with that. “We know how our female customers feel about Bailey, so maybe as he’s touring the country with his new arena tour, he’ll bump into someone,” he said.

It turns out Zimmerman was already a fan of the brand and getting to be the male country artist in the spring campaign was “a really emotional full-circle moment for him,” Brommers said. And his style also was a fit. “His style is very in line with American Eagle: denim, tanks and Ts, casual and comfortable, optimistic with color,” Brommers said.

Zimmerman told WWD that although he’s worn a number of brands over the years, this is his first official fashion campaign — “and it’s with American Eagle, which is crazy. I’ve worn American Eagle pretty much my whole life. My mom used to take me school shopping there. It honestly felt like a vacation for us, because we didn’t have much when I was growing up. I always loved getting new fits for school — that was a big deal for me.”

He said he’s always loved the brand’s jeans and underwear. “I used to grab the underwear with the crazy designs, and their jeans have always been comfortable and affordable.”

And it will work for his first headlining tour, which marks a major milestone for the artist. “I can’t believe it. It’s something I’ve dreamed about since I started singing in 2021, and the fact that it’s actually happening is wild. I’m just really grateful — to God, to my fans, to my family and friends. And to American Eagle.”

Despite his heavy touring schedule, Zimmerman said he’s also working on new music. “I actually have a song I’m about to share pretty soon — I’m just putting the final touches on it and making sure it’s right,” he said. And considering the successful collaborations he’s released with BigXthaPlug and Luke Combs — the latter of which, “Backup Plan,” was released at Stagecoach last year — will there be other partnerships in the future?

“Collaborating has honestly become one of my favorite parts of making music,” he said. “It’s so cool to see what you and another artist can create out of thin air. So yeah — definitely expect more collabs.”

Brommers said the popularity of Zimmerman and Langley proves that country music “is not niche. We have two of the most exciting, up-and-coming country stars at a moment where country music is defining culture, all building to Stagecoach, which is the largest country music festival in the world.”

He continued: “Country has become Gen Z’s fastest growing music genre. We looked at our customer data with our advertising partners at Spotify, and country is now the most listened-to genre for the American Eagle customer.”

According to a 2025 Live Nation survey, 63 percent of country music listeners are Gen Z or Millennial, with Gen Z among the fastest-growing demographic of listeners.

In addition to sponsoring the festival, the retailer will create a limited-edition AE x Stagecoach men’s and women’s collection that will launch March 25. The collection will include a suede fringe vest, tube tops, long skirts, maxidresses and jeans for women as well as jeans, graphic Ts, bandana printed shirts and a mechanic shirt for guys that will retail for $17.95 to $89.95. The collection will be available online, in select AE stores, and onsite at the festival.

In addition, two immersive denim-skewed “brand environments” will be installed at the festival: one on the main grounds and one in the camping area. They will feature product customization, interactive games, meet-and-greets and other events.

“I think this is the right genre, the right talent, the right brand and the right experience at the right time,” Brommers said.

American Eagle started exploring country music last March when it hosted a two-day pop-up called AE Denim Deli in Nashville.

“Given everything going on the world right now, I think there is a deeper connection to country music,” Brommers said. “It’s storytelling. There’s some optimism in there. There are fresh voices. It’s a really exciting time.”

Jennifer Foyle, president and executive creative director of American Eagle and Aerie, agreed. “Country music and denim are synonymous, and American Eagle is claiming center stage,” she said. “Driven by a new generation of artists and fans, AE’s partnership with Stagecoach, Ella Langley and Bailey Zimmerman is all about showing up at the intersection of culture and fashion. Through our signature AE jeans, we are bringing the denim on denim trends, relaxed fits, and festival-ready looks that are defining our customers’ unique style.”

Welcome to American Eagle Jeans Country

Following the launch of the brand’s latest campaign featuring Ella Langley, American Eagle announces Bailey Zimmerman and joins country music’s biggest stage with an exclusive sponsorship at Stagecoach

NEW YORK, NY (FEBRUARY 25, 2026) — American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) today announces the next chapter of the American Eagle brand’s Jeans Country campaign with additional talent and the debut as the exclusive apparel and denim sponsor of Stagecoach, the world’s largest country music festival.

Honoring AE’s denim heritage and connection to youth culture, the announcement builds on AE’s recent partnership with multi-platinum, chart-topping singer-songwriter Ella Langley, the first woman to ever top the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country Songs & Country Airplay Charts at the same time. Today, the brand unveils its newest campaign featuring multi-platinum country star Bailey Zimmerman, who has amassed over 7.5 billion global career streams to date and earned five No. 1 singles at Country radio.

“Country music and denim are synonymous, and American Eagle is claiming center stage,” said Jennifer Foyle, President – Executive Creative Director, AE & Aerie. “Driven by a new generation of artists and fans, AE’s partnership with Stagecoach, Ella Langley, and Bailey Zimmerman is all about showing up at the intersection of culture and fashion. Through our signature AE jeans, we are bringing the denim on denim trends, relaxed fits, and festival-ready looks that are defining our customers’ unique style.” 

Country Music’s Biggest Stage: Stagecoach

As the exclusive apparel and denim sponsor of Stagecoach, American Eagle will transform the festival experience with immersive on-site experiences throughout the weekend, including festival product customization, interactive games, meet and greets, and more. As the #1 jeans brand for Gen Z, these branded moments will invite festival goers into an immersive denim world.

One month prior to the festival, on March 25, 2026, AE will debut the AE x Stagecoach co-branded collection, a limited edition product line blending branded Stagecoach merch and quintessential festival fits. Available online, in select American Eagle stores, and onsite at Stagecoach, the collection features items priced from $17.95 to $89.95, including:

  • Women’s styles lean into festival trends, including a suede fringe vest, tube tops, long skirts, maxi dresses, country-inspired graphics, and of course denim.
  • Men’s offerings lean into western-inspired graphics, denim-on-denim dressing, featuring loose and baggy fits, hero graphic tees, bandana-printed shorts, and a standout mechanic shirt.
  • Accessories round out the assortment with belts, hats, scarves, totes, and pops of cow print.

Bailey Zimmerman will take the Stagecoach stage in a custom American Eagle look, designed in collaboration with the brand. Ella Langley will also bring a bespoke American Eagle look to a special appearance on the Stagecoach grounds, together underscoring American Eagle’s commitment to showing up alongside the artists and fans driving the country genre forward.

About American Eagle

Since 1977, American Eagle has offered an assortment of specialty apparel and accessories for everyone that enables self-expression and empowers our customers to celebrate their individuality. AE encourages today’s digital generation to enjoy the world around them through optimism, culture and connection with themselves and others, all while wearing the clothes that make them most confident. The brand has broadened its leadership in jeans by producing innovative fabric with options for all styles and fits for all. Visit www.ae.com to find your perfect pair of #AEJeans.

About American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE: AEO) is a leading global specialty retailer with a portfolio of beloved apparel brands including American Eagle, Aerie, OFFL/NE by Aerie, Todd Snyder and Unsubscribed. Rooted in optimism, inclusivity and authenticity, AEO’s brands empower every customer to celebrate their unique personal style by offering casual, comfortable, timeless outfitting and high-quality products that are made to last.

AEO Inc. operates stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with merchandise available in more than 30 countries through a global network of license partners. Additionally, the company operates a robust e-commerce business across its brands. For more information, visit aeo-inc.com.

About Stagecoach

California’s Country Music Festival is taking place this year on April 24-26th in Indio, California at the iconic Empire Polo Club. Produced by Goldenvoice, Stagecoach brings together the biggest names in country music alongside rising stars with a dash of the unexpected for a weekend that celebrates the spirit, storytelling, and sound of country. Known for its high-energy performances, immersive fan experiences, and genre-spanning collaborations, Stagecoach has become a must-attend destination for artists and fans alike. Since its debut in 2007, Stagecoach has become a cornerstone of country music culture, attracting fans from around the globe each spring. Passes for this year’s festival are available HERE.

Press Contact
Rebekah Margulis
SHADOW
Rmargulis@weareshadow.com

People: Country Star Ella Langley Is American Eagle’s New ‘Denim Darling’ in a Campaign That’s More Her Than Anything (Exclusive)

By: Michelle Lee and Brittany Talarico | Link to article

The singer making a splash on country’s music scene opens up to PEOPLE about staying true to her style, her closet obsessions and how she gets those bangs looking so dang good.

Ella Langley is topping the charts and hitting the biggest stages in country, but at the end of the day, she’s always going to bring authenticity to the table. What you see is always what you get, even as she takes on one of her biggest fashion partnerships to date.

The “Choosin’ Texas” singer is the new face of American Eagle. The campaign is as much about celebrating the brand’s timeless designs as much as it is a full-circle moment for Langley.

“I have these photos growing up wearing American Eagle shorts that my mom bedazzled herself. It was the first pair of denim I loved,” she tells PEOPLE. Her take on fashion is still the same — but of course just a little more mature.

“American Eagle has always been about being yourself, and that’s something I really try to get across in my music. My style in day-to-day life is pretty laid-back, a little outdoorsy, and always about comfort, so working with a brand that celebrates that felt right.”

Everything in her life has “a story attached” whether it be her songs or her fashion sense, which she describes as confident, feminine and powerful. And just because her go-to outfit formula is jeans and a T-shirt, “no question,” Langley still likes to have fun by mixing vintage pieces with timeless silhouettes.

When she shot the American Eagle ad, all Langley really did was show up and be herself. It’s actually a rule she’s set in place amid her rising career. “The most important thing is that I don’t want to force anything. I want any set I’m on to feel like a normal day in my life, just with a few more cameras!”

That energy comes “to life” in her partnership with American Eagle, especially through the dreamy images that show Langley in outfits she would “actually wear on any given day.” She loves the denim so much — from the on-trend Low-Rise Bootcut Jeans and Swag Denim Jacket to the flirty High-Waisted Perfect Mini — that she calls herself a “Denim Darling” (a play on her childhood church nickname, Ella Darling).

And of course she arrived on set with her signature bangs, which — naturally — she has the perfect life-saving hack for (fans, take note). “I use eyelash glue to hold them in place. You can use micellar water to take it off. Do a couple hair flips to test it out, and then spray it all down.”

The “real magic,” as Langley puts it, happens because of the true collaboration she has with the brand. “I love going through every detail from the set and location to the music and my own inspiration.”

If you thought Langley hit her peak, just know that she’s only going up from here.

This year will be an exciting one for Langley. On April 10, she’ll release her new album Dandelion, which she’ll support on The Dandelion Tour from May to August. To be present in the moment, she’ll do what’s always kept her grounded. “There is no better feeling than washing off my makeup. Then I put on a perfect playlist and have a moment to just slow down, light a candle, take a breath and think about the day with my dogs at my side.”

Reflecting on how far she’s come, she’d tell her younger self “to keep working hard and doing everything I possibly can to make my dreams come true. Every show I’ve played and every song I’ve written has led me to this moment of releasing Dandelion, and it means the world to me to do what I love and tell my story.”

WWD: American Eagle Taps Country Music Singer-Songwriter Ella Langley for Spring Ad Campaign

By: Lisa Lockwood | Link to article

Langley will attend Stagecoach Music Festival in April, which American Eagle is sponsoring.

American Eagle has tapped multiplatinum, award-winning singer-songwriter Ella Langley for her first fashion campaign.

The 26-year-old Langley will be attending Stagecoach Music Festival this year from April 24 to 26, which American Eagle is sponsoring.

The campaign taps into the growing cultural crossover between fashion and country, particularly with Gen Z. According to a 2025 Live Nation survey, 63 percent of country music listeners are Gen Z or Millennial, with Gen Z among the fastest-growing demographic of listeners.

Asked why they chose Langley for the campaign, Craig Brommers, chief marketing officer of American Eagle, said, “The decision to partner with Ella is about understanding where our audience is today and where culture is going.” He said that American Eagle is the number-one jeans brand for Gen Z, and with women’s products making up 70 percent of their business, “we are always paying close attention to who is connecting with women today.”

He said that Langley resonates with her female audience and “represents a new wave of country music.”

“Additionally, music has always been a key passion pillar for our consumer, and we also know that interest in country music, especially with Gen Z women, is on the rise. That momentum and the alignment with the brand’s values of authenticity and confidence have proven a perfect alignment,” he said.

Brommers added that the brand has worked with musicians across several different music genres, “though this is our biggest campaign with a headlining country music star.”

American Eagle dipped its toe into the world of country music last March when the retailer popped up in Nashville for the AE Denim Deli, a two-day pop-up which invited musicians, especially country, to participate in an open mic.

Langley will be present across all consumer touch points, including online, in-store, social and paid. She is also featured in some of the key items for the season, such as the Stretch Super Low-Rise Kick bootcut jean and Denim Tucker jacket, driving home their top products with a curated shop on the homepage of her selects.

This week Langley made history by becoming the first woman to ever top the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country Songs & Country Airplay charts at the same time at number one with her new song, “Choosin’ Texas” from her new album.

Langley, who hails from Alabama, first gained attention through viral social media performances and songwriting collaborations. She signed with Columbia Records/Sony Music Nashville and released her first album, “Hungover,” in August 2024. She will release her second album, “Dandelion,” in April and embark on a 2026 U.S. tour visiting Toledo, St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Austin, Fort Worth and more.

Celebrating AEO’s Women of the Year

Twelve months, twelve remarkable leaders. Join us as we celebrate the women who shaped AEO in 2025!

Throughout 2025, outstanding associates were nominated by their peer group to be recognized for their contributions to AEO’s business and associate community as “Woman of the Month.” Keep reading to learn more about our Women@AEO associate resource group and join us as we take a journey through the past year to revisit the accomplishments of our honorees. From the corporate offices to our distribution centers and stores, these women continue to shine every day! 

Meet the Honorees!

January 2025 | Amanda, Director – Brand Strategy & Experience

Mandy is the “soul and backbone” of the Aerie Real Foundation, helping to issue over $3.4 million in grants to date. A 15-year AEO associate, she is a master multitasker who balances her career with raising three kids and a puppy. Mandy is motivated by her family and a deep passion for work that empowers and improves the lives of others. Whether she is driving brand missions like Aerie REAL Fest or planning her next family trip, she is motivated by a desire to work hard and give back to her community.

February 2025 | Susan, SVP – Product Management & Technology Strategy

Susan thrives in environments where she can tackle big challenges and drive innovation. With 12 years at the company, she is dedicated to finding solutions that create efficiency and foster collaboration across the organization. Susan finds constant inspiration in her team, admiring the grace and curiosity they bring to solving complex problems every day. Outside of her leadership role, she is an avid Golden State Warriors fan and enjoys reading about American history.

March 2025 | Anne, Sr. Regional Director

Anne navigates a role that spans field leadership, real estate strategy and product assortment tailored specifically for the Canadian customer. She has led through shifting landscapes with strength and grace – from navigating pandemic restrictions to launching a new chapter of growth for her team. Anne is motivated by her family and the memory of her mother’s caring spirit. Anne brings her passion for creating meaningful memories and experiences into everything she does.

April 2025 | Christy, Supervisor – DC Operations 1

Christy defines what it means to lead with heart. Since her promotion in 2024, she has used her role to advocate for DC associates, prioritizing their personal and professional goals above all else. Christy’s compassion extends well beyond the DC walls; she spends her time volunteering with local shelters and leading recovery groups to give hope to those in need. A mother of eight and grandmother of seven, she views every day as a “bucket list” opportunity to learn something new and lift someone else up.

May 2025| Mindy, Sr. Manager – Credit

Mindy is an inspiring advocate for inclusivity and a champion for women in retail. Known for fostering an environment where every voice is heard, Mindy has successfully bridged gaps between technology, engineering and marketing to drive AEO’s credit portfolio forward. She is a lifelong learner who prioritizes holistic well-being and draws daily inspiration from her mother’s resilience. Guided by the belief that people will always remember how you make them feel, Mindy is dedicated to leaving a positive, lasting impact on AEO’s culture.

June 2025 | Miguelina, Sr. Analyst – International Support, Customer Engagement

Miguelina is a driving force for connection at AEO. Her leadership was instrumental this past year in launching AEO Juntos, the company’s first Latine Network – a milestone she counts as a career highlight. Beyond her role in Customer Engagement, Miguelina is deeply passionate about leaving the world better than she found it. Whether she is serving on boards for local Pittsburgh nonprofits or providing translation and fundraising expertise, she believes in the power of small organizations to create long-term change.

July 2025 | Rachel, Director – Site Merchandising

Rachel is a collaborative leader who thrives on breaking down barriers to drive innovation. Most recently, she played a key role in the seamless cross-functional rollout of a new merchandising tool, a testament to her belief that teamwork is the ultimate driver of progress. Motivated by an innate curiosity and her father’s advice to “love what you do,” Rachel approaches every challenge with a can-do mindset. Outside of work, she is an expert planner, an avid skier and a passionate traveler who finds joy in exploring everything from the festivities of New Orleans to the coast of Spain. 

August 2025 | Sandrine, SVP – Workplace Innovation & Facilities

Sandrine is celebrated for her “superpower” of putting talent first and leading with both heart and action. A visionary leader who thrives on execution and high-energy multitasking, Sandrine is motivated by the drive to get things done. She is deeply passionate about honesty, doing the right thing and fostering the growth of the teams she has built. Outside the office, you’ll find her listening to podcasts, driving her convertible with the top down or spending time with family.

September 2025 | Astha, Director – Product Management

Astha is a leader who excels at staying calm in moments of chaos and transforming it into effortless innovation. Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling AEO’s Loyalty and Credit programs, earning her team multiple company awards and industry recognition. Inspired by her mother’s legacy of independence and grace, Astha is passionate about authentic leadership and building partnerships that feel like family. Outside of tech, she is a dedicated advocate for rescuing stray dogs and finds daily motivation in the unwavering support of her husband. Whether she is embracing the “gifts of imperfection” or fueling her team with a perfectly timed coffee run, Astha leads with a quiet strength and unstoppable energy.

October 2025 | Christina, Director – Store Operations

Christina is a problem-solver at heart who thrives on fixing broken processes. Having spent 18 years at AEO – transitioning from a college sales associate to a corporate leader – she credits much of her growth to 15 years of mentorship and strong professional guidance. Christina finds her greatest motivation in watching her team develop and succeed together. Personally, she is deeply inspired by her mother and her three nieces and nephew. Christina is always ready for the holiday season with a stack of festive books or dreaming of a Mediterranean cruise with plenty of time at the casino!

November 2025 | Ashley, Director – Product Management

Ashley is a resilient leader who finds positivity in the chaos. Ashley recently took the bold step of pivoting into technology, a move that challenged her to start from scratch and grow in entirely new ways. She is deeply inspired by strong female leaders and is passionate about cherishing every moment with her family. When she isn’t mastering the art of the “career pivot” or finding her family’s lost items, Ashley is likely listening to Life of a Showgirl or dreaming of traveling to Italy to reconnect with her family roots.

December 2025 | Susan, Lead Analyst – Help Desk

Susan is a cornerstone of the team with an incredible 38-year tenure. Her passion lies in the heart of the business – ensuring stores run smoothly and solving critical technical issues so operations can succeed. Susan is most proud of navigating yet another seamless “Green Friday” without any major disruptions. She finds her daily motivation in her grandchildren and holds deep admiration for the long-tenured colleagues who have grown alongside the company. When she isn’t troubleshooting store conversions or reading through support tickets, Susan is an expert baker who dreams of buying a camper to travel the open road.

About Women@AEO

Women@AEO fosters an environment where women are empowered and inspired to achieve their full potential. The network provides opportunities for professional development, networking, resource sharing and support. Events are hosted to expand skills, share inspiring speakers, address unique issues that women face in their careers, families and communities, and make time to give back to our communities.

Women@AEO’s mission is to inspire and engage our network of associates to help them reach their full potential and to give back to the local community to support women and girls in need.

WWD: Aerie Teams With Emily Current and Meritt Elliott for Collaboration

By: Lisa Lockwood | Link to article

The collection features sleepwear, intimates, loungewear and accessories.

Aerie, the intimate apparel and lifestyle retailer, has partnered with Emily Current and Meritt Elliott for a collection that hits stores Thursday.

Current and Elliott are the cofounders of Current/Elliott, a sportswear brand they exited in 2012. They went on to cofound the Los Angeles-based The Great ready-to-wear brand in 2015. The duo also have a design and styling business Emily and Meritt, where they do various projects, including their latest project for Aerie.

Aerie x Emily + Meritt is a 64-piece capsule that spans intimates, sleep, loungewear and accessories.

“First of all, we love their work. I mean, everything they do is fantastic, from The Great to Current/Elliott to the work they do with Emily and Meritt. So it was really just an interesting connection with appreciating each other’s work,” said Stacey McCormick, chief marketing officer of Aerie and Offl/ne, divisions of American Eagle Outfitters.

Current and Elliott met as students at University of California in Los Angeles, and bonded over a shared love of vintage, an early creative connection that evolved from styling into designing and continues to define their approach today.

According to Elliott, “The Emily and Meritt brand was born the day we met, and it has really cemented to be a brand that celebrates friendship and fashion. It’s also really emotionally driven.” She said when the opportunity arose, it brought them back to the days when they were young stylists who frequently shopped at the mall. “Aerie played a really important role for us. We’ve always loved the brand, we’ve loved the product, and we loved to layer it. When we were stylists, we’d use their product a lot.

“Emily and I are brand builders and we always say our greatest achievement is our friendship,” said Elliott. Current added that they have children now and they’re shopping with them. “Aerie became this resource not only for us, but our daughters,” she said.

Current said this collection is multigenerational and features clothing you can wear inside or outside.

Among their assorted design projects, Current and Elliott had a 10-year partnership with William Sonoma Group, and had ongoing collections for Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, teen and adult. They have also designed paper goods and have designed apparel. “This is our first foray into intimates and sleep, and it’s an opportunity to speak to a broader audience, to bigger brands, more mass brands and mall brands and have a different price point,” said Current.

Elliott said, “We’ve always drawn to vintage inspiration, so there’s this thread of vintage lingerie that runs through, and it’s kind of pieces that can peek out and they’re part of your styling point of view, soft layers, pajama dressing inside and outside, and pajama pants you can wear in when you’re curled up with your friends talking, and then throw on sneakers and go out into the world.”

All the intimate pieces, prints and patterns are pulled from their vintage archive, said Current.

The collection features matching panties and bra sets, striped pajama sets, and big chunky wrap sweaters, said Elliott. There are also silky pieces, lacy pieces and jackets. She said you can lounge in them or wear them out. “So a pajama top can be a pajama top or can be tucked into jeans. The silky cami can be worn at home to bed or worn under a sweatshirt with jeans out. It’s this idea that these pieces are flexible and fun and are able to be incorporated into your own style,” said Current.

Elliott said one of her favorite pieces is the best friend T-shirt. Current said her favorite pieces are the satin bralette sets. Prices range from $18 for accessories up to $148 for sweaters. The collaboration is for one season.

McCormick said they relied on Aerie’s expertise in intimates and used Aerie’s factories for the production.

McCormick noted that Current and Elliott collaborated on the entire design process, starting with the sketches. “They were extremely involved in storytelling and shooting. We came out to L.A. and spent two days with them, really digging into some of their fun design archives. They were very involved with all the execution points,” she said, down to the video, the labeling and the color of the typeface.

What Aerie gets out of this is cultivating a new audience they haven’t reached before. Current and Elliott have a following that generates that elevated, curated style, she said. “We’re excited to bring our brand to more people, and they get an opportunity to go into more of a specialty space focused on a Gen Z consumer,” said McCormick. She said Aerie’s base is heavily Gen Z and Millennial.

And what did Aerie learn from working with them?

“They’re very similar to the way we work. To see someone so obsessed with detail and intentional, and the way the product feels. The level of detail into everything. We spent a lot of time and put our team on the project to really bring it to life with so much love. It’s definitely made with love,” said McCormick.

“Working in fashion and owning your own business and doing what we do is hard, and these kind of projects are fun. The process is fun, and the product is fun. And so what a joy that we get to speak to so many people and work with new people and meet new people,” said Current.

The collection hits select stores and the e-commerce site Thursday. It will be featured on the Times Square LED billboard in New York. Current and Elliott will attend a party at Aerie’s SoHo store on Saturday. There will be in-store dedicated marketing and email and social teasing.

Glossy: Aerie launches largest collaboration yet, focused on ‘remixed vintage’ and styling inspiration

By: Zofia Swieglinska | Link to article

Aerie launched its Emily + Meritt collaboration on Thursday. The 64-piece capsule is Aerie’s largest collaboration to date, based on the number of styles. And it marks a move into what the brand internally calls “remixed vintage,” a styling-led approach that translates nostalgic aesthetics into modern, wearable and repeat-wear products.

Aerie is using the partnership to formalize a behavior it has noticed among its Gen Z shoppers; younger consumers are learning about vintage style through stylists’ work — seen on celebrities and in social posts — and then shopping for those looks from brands that can deliver comfort, consistency and price accessibility.

The Emily + Meritt collection launches on Aerie.com and in select Aerie stores, with a prominent physical rollout at Aerie’s SoHo location. The included intimates start at around $18, while bralettes sell for $30–$40, and sleep and lounge pieces — like satin slip dresses, striped pants and knit cardigans — are $48-$88. 

The rollout is supported by in-store events, including a meet-and-greet event at the SoHo store with the collection’s collaborators, stylists Emily Current and Meritt Elliott. Content across Aerie’s social and digital channels, meanwhile, will focus on bringing the duo’s styling process to life and reinforcing themes of friendship, nostalgia and the collection’s everyday wearability.

Longtime creative partners Current and Elliott built their reputations as stylists before co-founding premium denim label Current/Elliott in 2008. The brand helped mainstream vintage-wash denim and was later valued at roughly $200 million when it sold a majority stake to investment management firm Spruce House Partnership. In December 2025, Current/Elliott was acquired by brand developer Republic Brands Group — it is no longer run by its founders. Current and Elliott have been focused on building their off-duty fashion label, The Great, since 2015.

“Our work has always started with styling, with how something feels when you put it on, how it moves and how it becomes part of someone’s everyday life,” said Current, noting that the vintage references in the Aerie collection — namely, washed fabrics, retro trims and relaxed silhouettes — were “softened” and “reworked for real life.” They focused on silhouettes that “feel nostalgic yet effortless,” and fits that “prioritize comfort without losing shape or intention,” so that “every piece feels lived-in, wearable and easy to style, whether you’re layering or wearing it on its own,” Elliott said.

Aerie CMO Stacey McCormick said the brand was aiming for a styling-first collection when it approached Current and Elliott. “They’re stylists,” she said. “They’re very much about outfitting and putting things together that are unexpected.” It’s an approach designed to help customers envision full looks, rather than stick to single-item buys. McCormick described the collaboration as a meeting of Aerie’s intimates expertise and the duo’s vintage-driven point of view.

“We both said we need pieces that you reach for all the time, to the point it almost becomes vintage in your own collection, because you wear it so much,” she said. The idea is also to offer nostalgia, free of the usual worry surrounding a vintage item — that it will fall apart if repeatedly worn and washed.

Google Trends data shows global search interest in “vintage inspired” items has more than doubled over the past three years, reflecting the aesthetic’s shift into the mainstream. In addition, McCormick emphasized the collaboration’s multigenerational relevance, noting that Aerie is focused on reaching and retaining Gen Alpha and Gen Z.

In 2025, brands across categories leaned into remixed vintage. They included Hollister, with its 25th-anniversary Y2K reissues in July; Reformation, with its 20-piece vintage-inspired capsule with Nara Smith in February; and Hudson Jeans, with its Spring 2025 collaboration with Brooks Nader, which nodded to ’90s supermodel style.

“We admire how Aerie prioritizes how women feel in their clothes,” said Elliott. “We wanted every piece to feel approachable, comfortable and empowering. This was about creating something honest, personal and rooted in how women actually live and dress.”

Current added, “We shopped Aerie on our own, and now we are able to shop it with our daughters, so the process [of creating this collection] felt very natural.”

The timing aligns with Aerie’s business momentum. On American Eagle Outfitters’s December 2 earnings call, CEO Jay Schottenstein said the company delivered record third-quarter revenue of $1.4 billion, up 6% year over year, with operating income of $113 million, above guidance. He called Aerie’s performance “a real standout,” citing an 11% comp and “strong demand, broad-based across all categories,” adding that growth had continued into the fourth quarter, with “exceptional demand.” CFO Mike Mathias later said fourth-quarter guidance implied Aerie comps would be in the high teens.

AEO president and executive creative director Jen Foyle tied that momentum to category breadth. Aerie’s third-quarter results were fueled by “strength across all categories, including intimates, apparel, sleep and Offline,” she said, calling the resurgence in intimates “very encouraging” and describing sleep as “a powerful growth category.” The Emily + Meritt capsule mirrors that mix, spanning intimates, sleep, loungewear and accessories.