Brands Briefing: Aerie drew thousands of applicants for its creator program with a key rule: no AI
No AI? No problem. Aerie’s new nano-creator program bans the use of artificial intelligence — and people are lining up to participate.
Aerie’s program, called the Aerie Realmakers Community, debuted in late April, with a stipulation that content be “accurate, authentic and not misleading.” Within the first two weeks, the program racked up more than 10,000 applications. Aerie hit half of its weekly sign-up goal within the first 24 hours of the program going live. It then met 100% of its monthly sign-up goal within the first seven days, surpassing executives’ expectations. As of May 11, the program had 12,000 members.
The program builds on Aerie’s longstanding commitment to “believe in real people and real life,” as mentioned on its website. In 2014, Aerie stopped retouching images of people and bodies, under the platform “Aerie Real.” In 2025, it committed to not using AI-generated people or bodies — a message it stressed in a recent campaign with Pamela Anderson. Now, with its new in-house creator program, Aerie is looking to signal these values of “authenticity [and] building confidence and self-expression,” said Stacey McCormick, the brand’s chief marketing officer.
“We’ve seen the shift in the culture — people expect real content,” McCormick told Modern Retail. “They want to hear from someone that they can relate to. It’s what we’ve done since the beginning of Aerie Real back in 2014, and we feel like we’re able to scale it now.”
To apply for Aerie Realmakers, creators must be a U.S. resident, be at least 18 years old and have at least 1,500 followers on social media. Those who join have the opportunity to receive gifted products, attend special events and earn an affiliate commission on sales. Aerie also regularly posts challenges that users can complete for points. So far, the program has a 93% acceptance rate.
The core tenet of Aerie Realmakers is user-generated content that shows people building out their closets or going about their day in Aerie attire. For years, Aerie has shared customers’ videos and photos on social media to better connect with its audience. Users can tag Aerie with the hashtag #AerieReal, and once a week, Aerie will repost some of their content. However, in comments and direct messages, Aerie fans have also expressed the desire to have a closer relationship with the brand, McCormick said. “Now, we can point them to a program where they can actually participate in the brand,” she explained. “It gives us access to them, and them access to us.”
Users are rushing to get out Realmakers content. About half of the people in the program are already starting to crank out videos. Within the first week, participants made thousands of posts on social media that reached nearly 20 million people. “We haven’t needed to really go into paid [advertising], because the organic response has been phenomenal,” McCormick said. “We saw a two-point jump, just in week one, on share of voice.”
Aerie will look at several KPIs to determine the success of its program, including brand awareness, brand engagement, post visibility and number of posts. It’s hoping that Realmakers content will bring new customers to its brand, and it plans to ask Realmakers for insights on everything from “Who’s your favorite celebrity?” to “What products are you loving?” to get a better sense of shoppers’ interests. “It’s an opportunity to have that two-way conversation with our community,” McCormick said.
Even as it builds out the Realmakers program, Aerie will continue to work with influencers at other levels, like brand ambassadors and macro-influencers. The Realmakers Community is held in partnership with Duel, a creator platform that also works with Lush, Stanley and Abercrombie & Fitch. Other retail companies, like Kohl’s and David’s Bridal, are stepping up their own creator efforts, as well.
Quynh Mai, founder of creative strategy and cultural intelligence agency Qulture, told Modern Retail that authentic creator content goes a long way in today’s AI age. She expects to see more brands launch creator programs in 2026, especially as consumers look for videos from people who look like them. “As AI slop moves into our feed, that human story will rise to the occasion,” Mai said.
Aerie is launching its new creator program at a time when its parent company, American Eagle Outfitters, Inc., is putting more money into marketing. The company sees Aerie “as a very strong growth vehicle,” McCormick said. For the fourth fiscal quarter of 2025, Aerie’s comparable sales increased 23%, while American Eagle’s increased 2%.
“Marketing investment has been increased to help us amplify the brand in a bigger way,” McCormick said. “The more people we can bring into the brand, the more people we can retain and really deliver brand love and incredible product.”
What we’re reading
- Richard Dickson, the CEO of Gap, Inc., says Gap, Athleta, Banana Republic and Old Navy need to “stay fresh” and “stay new.” (The New York Times)
- Kontoor Brands, which owns Wrangler and Helly Hansen, is looking for buyers for its denim brand Lee. (Retail Dive)
- Papa John’s is testing out drone deliveries in South Carolina. (Reuters)