Banz Henga

Don’t ask me how I missed this one but recently Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman has been hailed as “hugely brave” after calling out leading designers who force fashion magazines to have to use size zero models. She said that the clothes created by designers for the catwalk which were then sent to magazines as samples for photo shoots had become substantially smaller and minuscule and that Vogue now had to retouch photographs to make the models appear larger and by larger I’m guessing she means more healthy looking. How ridiculous is that? I’m calling her my hero because finally someone actually working for an extremely well known fashion magazine is speaking up and we are not just hearing it from the public.

In a letter sent to some main fashion houses including Prada, Versace, Yves Saint Laurent and Chanel, Shulman wrote: “We have now reached a point where many of the sample sizes don’t comfortably fit even the established star models. Instead, we have had to use girls with jutting bones and no breasts or hips, to fit them.” She added: “I am finding that the feedback from my readers and the general feeling in the UK is that people don’t really want to see such thin girls.”

Eleni Renton, a leading model agent who has pioneered the use of healthy-looking girls, said: “It is about time that somebody stood up to the designers, and it is hugely brave of Alexandra to come out and say there is a problem. I have had girls turn up to shoots and not be able to fit into the samples and these are model-size, slim women. It has become ridiculous and for too long, designers have been getting away with making clothes that are simply not designed for normal women.”

Hilary Alexander, the Telegraph’s fashion director, said: “I totally support Alex and addressing this issue is long overdue. Her call now needs to be backed by all the other glossy magazine editors, who must join the chorus if they want to see a change within the fashion industry. One lone voice will not be enough.”

Emma Healey of Beat, the charity that supports people affected by eating disorders, said: “This is very welcome. The whole controversy over size zero models has been a wake up call. It is very encouraging to see Vogue taking a stance like this.” Telegraph.co.uk, 2009

This is all hard to take in considering I just recently participated in the first ever Full Figured Fashion Week in NYC where the women were encouraged to flaunt their curves on the catwalk and the average model was a size 16/18. The fact is that in America alone, there are 40 million women over size 14, spending $25 billion a year on clothing, or a quarter of all clothing sales, according to American Demographics. So why is one of the top selling fashion magazines like Vogue still featuring clothing on models that are a size zero? I’d love someone to answer that for me.

Another interesting fact is that many plus size clothing stores and websites still use models that are considered “straight size” rather than using “plus size” models. I searched the web and retailers such as J.Jill, Jessica London, Roamans, OneStopPlus, and Silhouettes fall into this category while offering plus size clothing starting at size 14W up to a 34W. How can a retailer offer plus size clothing to its customers effectively and not show it on a plus size woman is beyond me. Are they falling into the same situation as Vogue, where like the magazine, the retailers are receiving smaller samples from their manufacturers so therefore they are having to use smaller models? I know for a fact that this is not true since I have done fit modeling for numerous plus size manufacturers and retailers in my career and the average plus size fit model is a size 18. Needless-to-say the samples are made in a size 18, so this cannot be possible.

What is going on world? Can we get this right? It seems simple enough to me that as a retailer you should show your merchandise on “real size” models that are the same size as the women you are targeting. So to those retailers who offer plus size clothing such as J.Jill, Jessica London, Roamans, OneStopPlus, and Silhouettes, my name is Danielle Line and I am a plus size model that is a “real size” 14/16. Feel free to contact me or my agency if you would like a “real size” model to work for you. Until then, I will spend my money with the plus size retailers that do use “real size” models like me such as Lane Bryant, Torrid, Ashley Stewart, IGIGI, Hips & Curves, Kiyonna, Junonia, and SWAK Designs. For these stores, keep doing what you are doing because you are definitely doing it right in the plus size community. As for Vogue, let’s hope we see some changes in the near future. I’m keeping my eyes open.