WE ALL COME IN A MISH-MASH OF SHAPES AND SIZES

There have been calls for more diversity in the fashion industry for many years now – and rightly so. There are six women who surround me every day in work and we all have different bodies and different styles. I have two groups of close female friends, and none of us would ever fear turning up in the same outfit – we just have alternative tastes in fashion. Even within my close family, we have similar body shapes but still vary greatly in our style. So why is it when it comes to models, the same shape – tall and thin – is used to showcase every label? The thin element has been called out in the past – and though still prevalent, plus-size models are making more regular appearances. But even within this group, they still tend to be very tall. On page 8, our cover star today, Olivia Arben, is leading a call for a change to be made on height restrictions. At 5ft7, she’s above the average height for Irish women, but much closer to it than most of the models we see on catwalks. She has managed to work her way on to the fashion scene, but believes her height has led her to miss out on certain roles. This is ludicrous to me. I’d have a much better idea of how something would look on me if I could see it on someone who looked remotely like me, rather than an unachievable shape – both vertically and horizontally! We all come in a mish-mash of shapes and sizes, so hopefully the fashion industry will continue to evolve to reflect that.

On page 38, we meet Louise Bagnall, the writer and director of Late Afternoon, which is nominated for an Oscar tomorrow night. Her enthusiasm and excitement is infectious – can you imagine what it must be like to be in LA at a time like this, never mind actually involved? And, oh, how do you even begin to pack for it? The breakfast meetings, the lunch contract consultations, the dinner introductions, the evening parties – it’s an endless cycle of ‘networking’ but you also want to enjoy it. I’m off to the races today and it’s taken me a couple of days to work out what I’m going to wear – so it’s probably for the best that I’m unlikely to ever end up at the Academy Awards. The baggage allowance alone would bankrupt me!

Enjoy the issue.