Aerie

Aerie is the inclusive intimates, loungewear, swim, activewear and apparel brand owned by American Eagle Outfitters (AEO). Built on a body-positive philosophy and its long-running unretouched "AerieREAL" campaigns, the brand has a devoted Gen Z and millennial following. For content creators and affiliates in the fashion, lifestyle, and body-positivity niches, Aerie offers two routes to earn: a traditional affiliate program run through Rakuten Advertising, and the Aerie Realmakers Creator Program, a community that blends affiliate commission with gifting and social features.

About Aerie

Aerie sits alongside American Eagle under the AEO umbrella and is one of the retailer's fastest-growing brands. Its assortment spans bras, undies, leggings, loungewear, swimwear, and apparel, with product typically priced in the affordable-to-mid range — bras and leggings commonly land in the $30–$60 zone, with frequent promotions and multi-buy underwear deals. The brand's marketing leans heavily on authenticity and inclusivity, which is central to how it recruits creators. In April 2025, parent company American Eagle Outfitters publicly rolled out its own affiliate program, and in 2026 it enhanced the Realmakers Community to deepen its creator relationships.

How the Aerie affiliate program works

There are two overlapping ways to partner with Aerie:

• The affiliate program — linked from the AE.com footer ("Affiliate Program") and managed through Rakuten Advertising. Publishers log in and generate tracked links through the Rakuten publisher dashboard. Third-party directory listings report the terms as approximately 2% commission, a 60-day cookie window, and monthly payouts. Aerie does not publish these numbers on its own website, so treat them as indicative rather than guaranteed.
• The Aerie Realmakers Creator Program — a brand-ambassador community at community.aerie.com. Members "unlock special perks like personalized offers, gifted Aerie product to make your content, affiliate commission, and events." To be accepted you must be based in the US, have a public profile, and have 1,500+ followers on Instagram and/or TikTok. American Eagle's parallel AE Creator Community offers the same benefits: affiliate commission, gifting opportunities, exclusive discounts, and the chance to be featured in AE's marketing.

To join the affiliate program, apply through Rakuten Advertising. To join Realmakers, create an account at community.aerie.com/account/create and connect your social profiles for review against the follower threshold.

Who should promote Aerie

Aerie is a natural fit for creators whose audiences overlap with its core customer: young women interested in intimates, size-inclusive fashion, loungewear, activewear, and body-positive content. If you run a fashion or lifestyle Instagram/TikTok account with 1,500+ followers and post try-on, styling, or haul content, the Realmakers route is designed for you — and the gifting plus social features can be worth as much as the commission itself. Bloggers, coupon and deal sites, and comparison publishers can use the Rakuten affiliate route to monetize AE.com and Aerie traffic. Because the reported commission rate is low, this program works best for creators who already have engaged fashion audiences and can drive volume, rather than those relying on a high per-sale payout.

Pros and cons

• Pro: A widely recognized, trend-relevant brand with strong Gen Z appeal and a clear body-positive identity that's easy to create authentic content around.
• Pro: Realmakers layers gifted product, exclusive discounts, events, and social features on top of commission — meaningful value beyond the payout.
• Pro: Managed through Rakuten Advertising, an established network with reliable tracking and monthly payouts (per third-party reports).
• Con: The reported ~2% commission rate is low compared with many apparel affiliate programs.
• Con: Aerie does not publish commission, cookie, or payout terms on its own site, so key figures come from third-party directories and are unverified.
• Con: The Realmakers Creator Program requires a US base and 1,500+ social followers, excluding smaller and international creators.
• Con: Affordable price points mean modest order values, so earnings depend heavily on driving high sales volume.

Overall, Aerie is a strong brand to align with if your audience already loves size-inclusive fashion and intimates. The Realmakers community sweetens a modest commission with gifting and exposure, while the Rakuten-managed affiliate program suits publishers who can send meaningful traffic to AE.com. Verify the current commission and cookie terms directly in the Rakuten dashboard before committing.