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plus-size

Is the industry really embracing models who aren’t a size zero, or is it all talk, no runway walk? by Johanna Lenander

he first half of 2010 will go down in fash- as , , Power photographers like ion history as a season of political cor- , Rosie Huntington- and the duo Inez van Lamsweerde and rectness. The notoriously fantasy-driven Whiteley and for the Vinoodh Matadin, who launched the and non-inclusive industry experienced and Fall 2010 shows, she careers of several pubescent starvelings, an insurgence of reality and diversity. shocked front-row regulars who hadn’t now reportedly refuse to shoot anyone The French and American editions of seen hips on a catwalk since the turn of under 16 and 18, respectively. British put out special no-retouch- the millennium. At the same time, the Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman has ing issues, 40+ babe Kristen McMenamy once-ubiquitous wave of frail, childlike, criticized designers who send size zero returned to ’s catwalk almost transparently thin Eastern Euro- samples that fit only wispy waifs, and along with Stella Tennant and Kirsty pean models seemed to have washed up has stated that the magazine adds bulk Hume (both over 30), and there was on the has-been shores. It was as if the to ultra-skinny models in retouch. Anna an influx of up-and-coming black and industry wanted to apologize for the past Wintour has declared that American brown beauties. But the biggest—pun five years. “The prepubescent Russian Vogue will henceforth include a wider intended—part of this revolution was the girls aren’t so popular anymore,” says variety of body types. sudden expansion in sizes. Ameri- Christopher Michael, a model agent at Will all this have a lasting impact? can plus-size supermodel Crystal Renn One Management in New York. “Now Maybe. And maybe not. Right now, the blazed through French Vogue, Elle, V everyone is interested in gorgeous, industry appears to be in the middle of and Glamour, while rotund rocker Beth healthy girls with personality. The beauty a shift, but it’s hard to see trends clearly Ditto graced the premier cover of style ideal is turning more toward what’s con- while they’re still emerging. And, of bible Love magazine. Meanwhile, the sidered beautiful by the general public.” course, add to that the famed fickleness busty young Brigitte Bardot look-alike Is this change we can believe in? In of the fashion pendulum—what you see emerged as the model of the the new decade, the fashion industry now could just be a fleeting fad. moment. When über-stylist Katie Grand appears to be inching toward a healthier Fashion trends usually have some helped cast Victoria’s Secret models such image than it promoted in the last one. correlation to the world of finance. » photography by trunk archive

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It seems that the previous flavour of name a few.) Still, Gelband’s regime model created a bad aftertaste with doesn’t exactly make a girl zaftig. It’s consumers at a time when magazines more about being lean without being and labels couldn’t afford to lose frail, and he works on his clients’ nutri- them. “The super-skinny thing started tion as much as their exercise routine. to create a bad cultural spinoff,” says “The agents see that it’s possible for the Michael. “Women are tired of trying to girls to be strong and muscular and still fit into clothes that have been made for fit in the designer samples,” he says. 14-year-olds. The economy has forced “They also notice that when the girls are the fashion industry to listen to what healthy, they look beautiful and have consumers want.” more stamina. They work better.” That’s why Justin Gelband has been There’s something obscene in that very busy lately. He’s a New York realization—it implies that an unhealthy celebrity trainer known for his ability lifestyle has been not just acceptable left her so skeletal that some designers to transform tomboyish models like among models, but encouraged. In felt that her legs couldn’t be exposed. Miranda Kerr into luscious Victoria’s 2006, I wrote press releases for several Others did not see this as a problem, Secret Angels. “For the past year, agen- high-fashion houses, and often over- however, and sent her out in micro cies have been sending me more and heard discussions about runway cast- minis. It was especially ironic to see more high-fashion girls to help them ings and who should wear what. There her rattling about in clingy, revealing gain more curves,” he says. (He works was one model in particular who cre- dresses by a designer who claimed the with , Anne Vyalitsyna, ated sartorial issues. She was a major collection was inspired by “womanly and Suvi Koponen, to star but her struggle with anorexia had curves, hips, breasts and buttocks.” »

THE IT GIRLS

1950s The original supermodel (take that, 1960s !) was Veruschka a swan-like former As the youthquake 1960s ballerina who was on started to shake up 1970s 1970s more than 200 Vogue the early ’60s, fashion Twiggy appeared Lauren Hutton covers. Early- to mid- turned to a sexier almost asexual with Time for va-va-voom The sporty tomboy 20th-century fashion and younger look. her childlike body again. Cleveland’s captured a casual was geared to wealthy, Veruschka embodied and saucer-sized sultry beauty and mood that celebrated grown-up women, the strong and feline eyes. Her exaggerated flamboyant persona androgynous bodies and the ladylike ideal of the moment makeup reinforced the meshed perfectly with and quirky features Fonssagrives stayed on with her lean impression of a little fashion’s resurrection of like the gap between hutton by bert stern/condÉ nast archive/corbis top for three decades. and muscular figure. girl playing dress-up. 1930s glamour. Hutton’s teeth. photography: fonssagrives by frances mclaughlin-gill/condÉ nast archive/corbis; veruschka by henry clarke/condÉ nast archive/corbis; twiggy by popperfoto/getty; cleveland by pierre schermann/condÉ nast archive/corbis;

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I wasn’t the only one who had Some models, like Rocha, are able lost runway jobs because I had breasts,” a reaction. In 2007, the Council of to stand up for themselves and their she says. “And an agent once told me to Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) natural body type. Others, like the lose weight by dropping the not-so-subtle introduced its Health Initiative, which Dutch model Kim Noorda, succumb to hint that she wanted to see more of my raised awareness of the rampant eating the pressure. Noorda wrote candidly in collarbones.” Forsling’s life is unusually disorders among young models, and American Vogue’s April issue about her grounded for a model; she’s a happily included guidelines on how to address struggles with weight and body image. married mother of two who spends more the issue. (Previously, other fashion week It’s hard for an average-sized woman to time at the playground than in the gym. cities like , and Madrid understand how a lanky and long-limbed While she still loves the business, she had attempted to install catwalk bans girl can feel overweight. But your eyes says it hurts to be rejected because of her on underweight girls, but were thor- adjust to what you see around you. size. “It makes me so angry when I think oughly ignored by designers.) At a panel “When you work as a model, your about all the young, insecure girls that discussion, —who at size perception of a woman’s body becomes don’t have a support system,” she says. four is considered too large for many completely skewed,” says Caroline fashion industry’s perception of body “Models are so lonely. You’re always on runways—spoke about the demands she Forsling, a Swedish model who has been type is completely surreal. “When your own in a hotel room with way too faces from agents and clients. “They working steadily for over 15 years for cli- they talk about people like Lara Stone much time to obsess on this stuff.” said, ‘You need to lose more weight—the ents like Sports Illustrated and Michael being a plus-size model—not even “Modelling can be very demeaning for look this year is anorexia, and although Kors. “You can’t see that a normal-sized a plus-size model but a voluptuous a young girl,” agrees Hicks. “And, you we don’t want you to be anorexic, we figure is attractive. You completely lose model—it’s just mental!” she exclaims. know, the saddest part is that you’ve want you to look it,’” she said. “My touch with reality.” At five-foot-11 and 124 pounds, got these incredibly beautiful, beautiful question is, How do you look anorexic Designer, former model and British Forsling is still sometimes turned down creatures out there and they have no unless you actually are?” royalty India Hicks agrees that the for jobs because she is too big. “I have self-esteem whatsoever.” »

1980s 1980s Disco fever turned Paulina 1970s into a darker mood. Porizkova 1990s Jerry Hall Carangi’s wild-child 1980s The mood shifted from Naomi, Linda, 1990s The return of glamour! persona and wounded Christie girl next door Cindy, Christy, Hall sported stare brought in a new Brinkley to goddess. Porizkova Claudia The economy tanked the shiniest hair, the raw street sensibility. Fashion got safe with was flawless, The supers arrived. and glamour turned longest legs and the Her womanly body the sunny California feminine and utterly Everything about to . Itty-bitty reddest lips—and Bryan and tomboy attitude girl, whose athletic unattainable, with them was larger-than- Moss set a new beauty Ferry and Mick Jagger made for an interesting curves helped launch a long and lean life, especially standard. “Waif”

as accessories, of course. contrast. a workout craze. photography: hall by lichfield/getty; carangi by andrea blanch/getty; brinkley by everett collection/rex usa photography: porizkova by neal preston/corbis; campbell by neville marriner/daily mail/rex usa; moss by terry o’neill/hulton archive/getty hourglass figure. their paycheques. became a compliment.

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But aren’t agencies supposed to look after their models’ well-being? “Yes, but we’re not always aware when a girl has a problem. It’s very hard to tell sometimes.” And of course it is. People with eating disorders are skilled at hiding their illness. Ultimately, the girls need to fit into the clothes, right? Agents, stylists and models all point to designer sample sizes as the root of the problem. In the past 10 years or so, samples—used for photo shoots and runway walks—have shrunk from size four to zero. In Kim Noorda’s journal, the five-foot-10 model writes that when she weighed 110 pounds, she fit into the samples But agents aren’t telling models to lose easily. When she got treatment for her weight just because they’re evil. “Our job eating disorder and gained 15 pounds, is to get them jobs—it is the sample sizes however, doing runway shows became produced by the designers that demand extremely uncomfortable. such a small fit. It’s not about our taste. If designers made bigger samples, the We supply a product,” says Michael. models wouldn’t have to be so thin, »

1990s Gisele 2010 Bündchen Lara Stone AfterOD ’ing on 2000s Boobs and booty are nightclubbing urchins, Hana Soukupová, back! The voluptuous fashion was ready for (in relative terms) sunshine. Enter the A slew of ethereal and slightly Miss Stone sets off strong, sexy Brazilian alien Slavs took over the a whole new curve beach babe and runways. Breasts shrank from craze, and models start her army of curvy C-cup to A-cup to no cup, and hitting the gym and

photography: bündchen by steve wood/rex usa; soukupovÁ, pivovarova and stone by peter stigter compatriots. models got thinner than ever. the carbs again.

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love a curvy woman who is a woman, them on the catwalk—we all need to but the reality is that you have to work dream!” However, he admits that it’s a lot harder to make clothes look good easier to dress curvy women in knitwear on a voluptuous girl. If my company than clothes made of other fabrics. “My was bigger, I could afford to have more knitwear has the capability to stretch diverse sample sizes.” quite a bit, so there is room to fill in.” Still, the girls Théallet casts are rela- Other designers seemed to be on tively voluptuous, and her samples—size a similar track for Fall 2010. Prada four—are generous by fashion standards. showed demure, retro dresses that Coco Rocha opened her Fall 2010 show. would flatter women of all sizes. “When a girl is too slim, I don’t cast her, Phoebe Philo at Celine kept things even if I like her face. I can see when fluid and covered up. Even Nicolas so the argument goes. So why do it’s not natural,” says Théallet. “I can’t Ghesquière at dropped his designers make such tiny clothes? take it—I just want to feed her.” infamously skinny pants in favour of “There are certain proportions that One designer who has gone out on a softer, rounder silhouettes. Will all this make clothes look good on a body. You limb and cast real, live size 10 women is change the beauty ideals pushed by ads can be a beautiful woman but if you knitwear designer Mark Fast. For his and magazines? Probably. Will it help don’t have those proportions, you will Spring 2010 show, Fast created a sensa- regular women feel less inadequate? be told that you need to lose weight. tion when he showed his intricately Probably not. But at least a few more There are very few Naomi Campbells detailed and revealing knits on both models will face less pressure to look out there,” says recent CFDA award skinny and full-figured models. “I was emaciated. And maybe that will spare a winner Sophie Théallet. She says the aware that many of my customers are fashion-obsessed teenager or two from industry standard sample sizes are not women that have curves,” he says. “I trying to lose those last five pounds. a reflection of her personal taste. “I wanted to express a fantasy world for Let’s enjoy it while it lasts.

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