Look up inamorata in the dictionary and you’ll learn it means “a person’s female lover.” Turn the definition on its head and you’ve got the jumping off point for the latest additions to Emily Ratajkowski’s collection Inamorata BODY—a new line that includes bralettes, panties, bodysuits, bandeau tops, and more. “It has the Rata in it, but it means female lover, or like muse. And the idea to me is that it’s not just like a man’s idea of a siren—you love yourself, right? So, you’re your own muse,” Ratajkowski shared during our phone call about the collection.
“I grew up in southern California and it really was a culture of girls living in their swimsuits,” the model/designer says. “Here was this real confidence, and it was non-sexual, just women doing their thing, you know?” After spotting the same attitude on New Yorkers, Ratajkowski was eager to make items for women to wear off the beach. Read on for more from Ratajkowski on everything from being nice to yourself to how she plans on making this brand truly inclusive.
What was the inspiration for this collection?
You know, for me, I don’t have a go-to underwear store. I don’t have a place that makes cute basics that I really want to wear, and I feel comfortable in, but I also think are on trend and cool. So, this is also just like a necessity—this is something that I would want to wear.
That’s funny, I actually wanted to see if there was there a point when you looked in your closet and you were like, “You know what? This is it. I just need to do it for myself.” What made you think that this collection was necessary?
Yeah, totally. Swim has always been fun. I was always a girl who collected a million bathing suits, and I didn’t have a go-to swimwear company, and I didn’t have a go-to underwear company. For me, that’s huge. You know, even just the basic slip dresses, those are harder to find than you would think. I don’t want it to be a brand where you’re like “Oh, wow. I got this one thing, and then they never made it again.” I want it to be the kind of thing where girls are like, “Oh, yeah. Inamorata, perfect. I can get that comfy cotton set.” You know?
How do you feel when critics say, “Oh, well. She has the perfect body. I’m sure she was born with that. So, good on her for being confident.”
I mean, yes, it is easy for me but, let me tell you, there are days when I wake up and I don’t feel good. I think it’s all relative, and I think that everyone can be critical of their body, it doesn’t matter what you look like on Instagram. I think that confidence isn’t something that comes from what you see in the mirror, it’s about how you feel, as cheesy as that sounds.
Seems like confidence is a practice.
Yes, it totally is. And it’s not one that you’re going to always be good at. And I think that’s just really important to remember. I mean, there’s so many different ways you can criticize your body, and it’s not just about what size you are, you know?
In those times when you aren’t feeling your most confident, what is the conversation with yourself like?
Give yourself a break. This is a message that’s super important to me. I feel like women, and young women especially, are just so hard on themselves and constantly comparing themselves. I don’t know if I see that as much with men, certainly not physically. I think that you really want to be the sexiest, the smartest, the most hardworking—the everything. And that’s great that those are the things that we all want. But it’s also important to realize we’re human beings, and you’re not always going to be all the things that you want to be in every given moment.
Keeping that in mind, what does inclusivity look like to you? How will you make this brand feel welcoming of other body types and other people?
When we did something with the swim in October, I shot six girls who are like my muses, and included Lena Dunham, and girls I just know from New York who sometimes model, plus professional models. Just a bunch of different bodies, and the comments we got were it was really interesting. Because one of the girls, Amelia, everyone’s like ‘She’s way too thin.’ And when I post Lena the response is, ‘Oh, she’s just gross. Blah, blah, blah.’ It was crazy to me. To me, this is what my dream is, seeing all these girls in our bathing suits. My dream is to see girls of all shapes and sizes in the underwear. And that’s why the sizing ranges from extra small to extra large. The sizes are really generous. When you look at what we’ve done with the swim, which has obviously been around a lot longer, I think that really speaks to what I have planned for Body.
So everyone’s flipping their lids about your bodega shoot. Why did you want to shoot there?
It goes back to what I was saying—this is about an attitude of living a confident lifestyle. Taking everything that we feel about the beach and taking it to the city. For me, the bodega is a weird thing, because you can feel extra gross when you go to the bodega. But, this was our idea of that kind of confidence where you are in your comfy whatever clothes, or your sexy lingerie, whatever mood you’re in—just going around the city in Nikes and underwear.
If you could cast anyone in another bodega shoot that you weren’t going to star, who would you cast?
Oh, my god. I have a whole folder of like 20 girls that, that I’m hoping that I could end up using. I don’t want to name one person and leave someone out, but, you know, it’s been really cool. Some of my good friends like Amy Schumer, and Lena Dunham, and Ashley Graham have reached out and been like, “Oh, my god. I want to wear this stuff.” It’s such a dream. I like surprising people. My idea of casting is to use people that inspire me.
What are your favorite bodega snacks?
The green Sour Patch straws. Love those. Love like sliced mango in the summer from those weird plastic containers. I always try to find the ones that are not too soft, not too hard. And then, like an Arizona Iced Tea, and Talenti ice cream.
