VIVA LA DIFFERENCE
UNSHACKLED FEMININITY has always been an Alexander Mcqueen calling card, but at the label’s S/S ’18 show in Paris last week, creative director Sarah Burton turned it up a notch with a casting as inspiring as the collection.
Alongside girl-of-the-moment Elfie Reigate (the first to sign to Kate Moss’s agency) were two refreshing new faces, Betsy Teske ( left) and Eline Lykke (right).
What made the casting particularly noteworthy was that the girls are both bigger than traditional sample sizes. Diversity might be a buzzword, but it was refreshing and pleasantly surprising to see it in action at one of the most important shows of Fashion Month. Even better, it didn’t feel like a gimmick, a compromise, or like Burton was trying to tick boxes – they were simply models with real and realistic figures.
No one was as shocked by the casting as newcomer Betsy. Recommended by the show’s stylist Camilla Nickerson after she worked with her on an editorial shoot, Betsy found out she’d been cast in her catwalk debut just days before the show – and then had to spend two days perfecting her walk, having never expected to be called upon. ‘“Curvies” always get told that they are never going to do catwalks – just photo shoots,’ says Betsy on the phone from her hometown, Amsterdam. ‘So, it was such an honour. I just didn’t know how to react, I was crying, I was so happy.’
Was she nervous? On the contrary. Betsy explains that as well as being surrounded by a highly professional team, the other models were sisterly towards her, and singles out fellow Dutch model Kiki Willems as particularly supportive. ‘I wasn’t really stressed,’ she explains. ‘I felt very confident. The atmosphere, the people, all this together, you just feel so good about how you look. [ The team] made me look gorgeous, I think!’ Brilliantly, the clothes worn by Betsy and Eline weren’t lesser versions of the ‘straight’ sample-sized pieces in any way. The clothes worked for them, they worked for the clothes.
For Betsy, walking in the show was an empowering experience, not least for her younger self, who ‘would look at skinny models and think, “Oh my god, I can never be like her. I’m too big.”’ Betsy is in fact a size 14; most models on the catwalk are a 6-8. ‘Now we’re changing that.’ In turn, she hopes other girls will see her and feel included and good about themselves, adding, ‘ We shouldn’t abolish thin people from the catwalk. We just have to have more diversity. A whole spectrum!’
So, does Mcqueen’s move mark a shift towards more size diversity across the board? There have certainly been signs of it over the latest round of shows (though it would be disingenuous to pretend that most models don’t still fit the more traditional model mould). Earlier in the week, when the model slated to open the Chloé show didn’t fit the sample, the house’s new creative director, Natacha Ramsay-levi, refused to recast, instead remaking the sample. It might not sound like much, but steps like this from the highest echelons of fashion are vital.
And as for Betsy? She’s back in Amsterdam, continuing her law studies – for now. We have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of her.