Here’s your educational thought for the day: Sociologists attribute a societies’ physical standards of a woman directly correlated to their economy. Thusly, when the economy is thriving, thin is in; when the economy is down, chunky is chic. When a woman is heavier she seems well taken care of, healthier and more fertile. Perhaps, as the economy suffers, this is the reason that so many designers and magazines are flocking to “real women” and “plus-sized” models for their campaigns.
Mark Fast jump-started the plumped up trend by sprinkling plus-sized models in with “regular” models in his Spring/Summer 2010 collection in London. Fast felt that voluptuous women would fill out his body-con knit dresses better than the typical size 0 models most designers pick. Fast stuck with this notion, even though it drove two members of his design team to quit, citing “creative differences.” We applaud Fast for his initiative, and are even happier to hear he plans to continue using plus-sized models in his future collections as well.
V Magazine jumped on the hefty honey bandwagon with their issue devoted to curvier cuties. Many felt that V, known for pushing the boundaries of fashion, was exploiting these women instead of embracing their size due to the unflattering styling and over-emphasis of fleshy folds. The responses to the editorial ran the gamut; comments online range from “Great story. Sexy. I love the pic with the naked girl on the floor. F-ing sexy!” to “This has nothing to do with curves…this is just overweight! awful so much fat, not healthy! Now if I feel like that, I don’t want to eat anymore, I don’t want to become like them.” It’s worth noting though that the models pictured in the shoot are only a size ten to twelve, which, while immensely larger than the typical model, is actually smaller than the average American woman.
So what does the recent use of plus-sized models say for the future of the modeling world? Should we expect to see size 10 glamazons stomping down the catwalk next to the typical size 0 bony beauty? Or is this just a trend that will surely fast away?
