It was only four years after world-leading ‘plus-size’ model Tess Holliday rocked the fashion world when she took her 20th frame down the New York catwalk in a bold, skintight dress. It was before.
Her all-white outfit, by US fashion brand Chromat, had a flesh-baring cutaway and was emblazoned with the slogan “Sample Size.”
She said she was “two fingers” for the fashion industry obsessed with skinny models.
Yet, judging by the skinny figures that graced the catwalks at London, New York and Milan Fashion Weeks this month, those over size 12 are known in the industry as ‘curve models’, but the rest of us known as the regular model. It’s like last season now.
Holliday, who is a size 26, told the Mail on Sunday:
Models and their agencies say runway work has nearly dried up. One London agency for plus-size models said there was so little work on the catwalk that the girls were “better stacking the shelves” in supermarkets than appearing at London Fashion Week.
Alex Haddad, owner of BMA Models, said:
According to activist Felicity Hayward, fewer than 3% of the 2,640 models booked for London Fashion Week were curvaceous.
At the New York show, just 31 curb models were used on the catwalk, down from 49 last season.
Several well-known design brands that previously used plus-size models (such as Fendi, Michael Kors, and Roksanda, the London label once championed by Cefinn founder Samantha Cameron), have moved to “model sizes” and below. I got it back to type by casting the number.
One model, who declined to be named after seeing a show at London Fashion Week, said there was a “return to a ‘skinny’ mentality” and that designers were “playing safe” to sell their clothes in a difficult economy. Climate – Avoid what’s called ‘break when you wake up’.
The British Fashion Council, which hosts London Fashion Week, did not respond to a request for comment.
And I doubt it was all going smoothly.
Thanks to the body positive movement, the fashion world told us that big can be beautiful, and that “any size is healthy.” The women of normal figure (anything larger than the mandatory catwalk size 6 to 8) are finally here. allowed to see.
“Big” girls like Ashley Graham, the star of yesterday’s Dolce & Gabbana show in Milan, Paloma Elsesser and Precious Lee graced the runways and magazine covers, joining superstars like Beyoncé and Jennifer Coolidge. rice field. When US singer Lizzo graced the cover of her UK Vogue in 2019, we saw her whole body, not just her head – as was the case with Adele’s first appearance.
Even brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch, which set a certain beauty standard by hiring shirtless six-pack young men as sales assistants, took this message and started making bigger sizes. Finally, you can buy jeans in size 26. Others followed suit.
The likes of Victoria’s Secret, where models avoided water before shows to maintain their physiques, went into control.
It felt like the tide had turned. But now it seems that it has been reverted.
Fall 2021 began with an alarming return of corpse models and continued last year, especially at Prada and Versace, where models appeared to be in need of palliative care.
At Burberry’s London show earlier this month, 32 Black and Asian male and female models participated in 55 looks, but no plus-size models were included.
At Prada’s Milan show last Thursday, 25 of the 54 models were black or Asian, but none were over a size 8. Women.
what happened? It’s not enough to say that fashion is cyclical.
One possible reason is that last May, Kim Kardashian (the unrealistic poster girl for the bigger woman) lost 16 pounds in three weeks and met Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “Happy Birthday” at the Met Gala. Mr. President’ dress.
As plus-size influencer Marielle Elizabeth wrote for Vogue.com under the headline, “Is My Body Going Out of Style?” – Her weight loss “marked a change in tone… at least marks the end of an era that claimed to celebrate a curvaceous body”.
The lockdown is over. Designers embraced the “fat walk” and woke up, but that meant many went bankrupt. I realized that wearing soft bras and tracksuits is perfectly fine.
Lockdowns have been disastrous for businesses. Evans, the most famous plus-size brand, struggled.
Did designers start “fat-wa” to make us feel like we need to diet, exercise and buy new things? Perhaps morbid obesity is not healthy. But when women can’t find something nice in their size to make them feel good, women may think:
Also, don’t think the industry favors size 10 clothes. These days, up-and-coming designers receive little training in pattern cutting for figures over size 12.
When the stunning 23-year-old, size 18 catwalk star Grace Broyning debuted in Paris for Chanel last year, she was one of only three big models at the show. (Important: Chanel didn’t cast a single big girl from 2010 to 2020.)
Bruning told Vogue US that upon arriving backstage, “they asked me if I was part of the hair team,” suggesting that he was riding the trend just to meet his “curve quota.” confirmed her suspicions. I don’t have clothes for them.
Here’s the crux of why the fashion world shuns big women. Sales assistants are often not trained to fit the curve. Insane considering the average UK dress size is 16.
Too many brands only stock large sizes online. clear message? We don’t want you in the store. In fact, many big girls don’t want to see big models.
As a size 14 woman tells me, “Clothes look better on skinny women. .
“You have hope. With a larger model, you can see what it looks like in person, but I wouldn’t buy it.
Thus, many plus-size series are gone, such as Mango’s Violetta (although they still have larger sizes) and Evans’ Swan. It’s not like buying a car. We believe clothes change us.
But it won’t. Fashion is our business, not our friend. And like all the numbers I quoted above, it remains – ahem – a conclusion. High fashion hates big women. Even though Victoria Beckham says ‘it’s outdated to be thin’, her designs only go up to 14. I’ve been backstage at catwalk shows many times.
I once heard the world’s most famous gay male designer say to supermodel Angela Lindvall:
That’s how we’re actually seen. We may love fashion, but trust me.
