Curvier Girls
Plus-size models make big impact in New York as fashion houses finally get real
NO, YOUR eyes aren’t deceiving you. Yes, these magnificent creatures with boobs, bottoms and back rolls are catwalk models from New York Fashion Week. The fashion industry’s US get-together usually features non-stop parades of very young women with bodies like ironing boards. But this year, several labels have put plus-size models in their shows. Addition Elle, who specialise in cool clothing in bigger sizes, sent Ashley Graham strutting down the runway in eye-popping lingerie. She said: “I’m just fighting a fight for the women who don’t want to be placed apart from other women because of the size of their hips.” Ashley was joined by Jordyn Woods, who has also designed a range of clothing for the Canadian label. Jordyn, who models for Boohoo. com and is best friends with fellow model Kylie Jenner, campaigns not to be put into any categories but to
be treated like any other model. She told E! Online: “When you categorise people and put them into a group, then it creates aloneness and segregation.”
This year, the big girls weren’t just walking for specialist labels. Mainstream fashion houses are realising that very few of their customers are skinny white teenagers.
Michael Kors put Ashley in a split-fronted black dress and grey fur jacket.
He also used mixed race Disney star Zendaya and 42-year-old catwalk legend Carolyn Murphy in his show.
Christian Siriano, who made a red-carpet dress for Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones when she couldn’t buy one to fit, went out of his way to celebrate diversity. He put a man in a flowery trouser suit, cast trans model Evie Acosta and had two plus-sized models wearing the same dresses as the thin girls.