Return of the full-figured fashion model

© Icqurimage 2009


It is as though war has broken out on the catwalks. Tempers have flared, triggering symbolic protests and walk outs as heavy infantry in high heels clash with their leaner counterparts. Deeply entrenched rival camps have taken up positions on either side of the fashion pier and passions are at fever pitch. On one side of the divide rest the traditionalists who religiously maintain that thin is beautiful, while on the opposite bank sit those who contend that curvature is the defining hallmark of femininity. This is no mere cold war of style or symbolism. The opposing camps are competing for a share of a global fashion industry estimated to be worth over $1.7 trillion, not to mention a diet industry valued at a somewhat more trifling $40 billion. Clearly there is much very more at stake than some esoteric perception of the perfect female form, as vast profits and the mental health of millions of women and teenagers are 'in play'.
Artistic temperaments certainly flared at last September's London Fashion Week when leading designer Mark Fast chose three size 12 to 14 fashion models to wear his new line of mini-dresses. It was claimed that his stylist stormed out after a heated discussion, although whether this was theatrical conjecture or a genuine cultural clash is for the headline writers to decide. The 'incident' did however ignite the smoldering sentiments which lay beneath the silk and the sequins. High fashion certainly collided with high politics when Mr. Fast selected size 12 model Hayley Morley for the associated photography exhibition 'All Walks Beyond the Catwalk'. The launch party was attended by such luminaries as the Editor of Vogue and the Prime Minister's wife Sarah Brown. The secret semaphore of this side show was not lost upon the fashionistas, still smarting in the wake of the British Fashion Council's 2007 Model Health Inquiry. Despite widespread public outrage after the deaths of several fashion models from starvation, the British Fashion Council eventually only paid lip service to the issue and elected not to institute specific guidelines on the acceptable size and weight of fashion models, regardless of any fleeting introduction of health checks at major fashion shows. Consequently the debate about where the line should be drawn around the waist rages on without sign of resolution.
In recent years the pendulum of fashion has swung slowly towards the fuller figure, a cultural ideal last venerated during the affluent eighties. A man of his age, Mark Fast's decision to 'go large' was both astute and ingenious. Up on the catwalk his visions were brought vividly to life by healthy complexions and full contours, the models' natural radiance augmented through his designs. The three now famous plus-sized models, Hayley Morley, Laura Catterall and Gwyneth Harrison, were provided by 12+ UK, an agency founded at the turn of the Millennium by Sarah Watkinson. New ideas can be highly contagious, and nowhere more so than in the fashion industry. The 2009 Sydney Fashion Festival also featured plus-size models on their catwalks when 'City Chic', Australia's fastest growing fashion chain, presented its latest collection to thunderous applause.

Health becomes the new battleground

The swing away from size zero has naturally caused considerable consternation at the opposite pole. Those critical of larger dress sizes have also played the health card to rally supporters to their cause, arguing that promoting plus-sized models encourages obesity at a time when over half the population are overweight and a fifth are clinically obese. While the quality of the underlying science is consistent and credible, its sacred truths are veiled by misleading measurements such as the Body Mass Index and misguided associations between body fat and poor health. The health of an individual cannot simply be defined in terms of percentage body fat or weight. Other indicators, such as the strength of the immune system, blood pressure and hormone levels may serve as far more reliable indicators of vitality. Many of today's emaciated models would 'flunk' basic health and fertility tests, and while smoking and diet pills are effective routes to becoming leaner, they are not a path to good health.
Some prominent members of the medical profession have weighed into the debate. Professor Ulrike Schmidt, leader of the Institute of Psychiatry's eating disorder team, raised concerns over the continuing use of malnourished models and the apparent absence of medical checks at London Fashion Week. Professor Schmidt holds the conviction that the absence of such routine tests prevents those who are pressured into the belief that 'being underweight is the norm' from 'gaining an insight into the [genesis] of their eating disorders'. According to a recent study published by the Journal of Consumer Research, the self-esteem of overweight women consistently decreases when they are exposed to images of models, while the confidence of underweight women invariably increases, regardless of the type of models they look at, as though such images serve to reaffirm and validate their compliance with a social ideal.
Recent research supports the belief that both resveratrol, a constituent of red wine, and caloric restriction (eating 10-25% less food per day) promote longevity through the same biochemical pathway. However, there is an important distinction between eating less food and a diet which is deficient in key nutrients. As some models are known to consume little more than confectionary, cigarettes and low calorie cola, it is unlikely that these individuals will outlive their plus-sized counterparts. Whichever physical extreme is promoted, swinging the scales of acceptability in favour of one pole inevitably favours those models whose genes and metabolism predispose towards that particular body form. In a size zero culture those with endomorphic (pear-shaped) body forms and slower metabolisms will inevitably fail the scrutiny of the limbo bar, while those who are naturally thin (ectomorphic) and have a faster metabolism will enjoy a competitive advantage when it comes to contracts. Sometimes it is all too easy to confuse self-discipline and strength of character with favourable genetics. After all, we all know someone who has a perfect figure and claims to be able to eat just about anything.
If anything, the debate seems to be gaining in intensity, and Kate Moss' recent assertion that 'nothing tastes as good as skinny feels' has only served to fan the flames. This latest sound bite from the legendarily svelte Miss Moss flies directly in the face of Katie Green's highly publicized 'Say no to size zero' campaign. Given that there are estimated to be over a million individuals who suffer from eating disorders within the UK alone, such slogans can only increase levels of anxiety amongst young girls who are desperate to conform to the 'social ideals' represented by supermodels like Kate Moss. As over a quarter of British teenage girls routinely skip meals to stay thin and one in ten misses at least two, the issue weighs heavily upon the public health agenda.
Angel Sinclair, director of 'Models of Diversity', recently asked the question 'If girls as young as ten are desperate to emulate emaciated celebrities what can be done to change this trend?' The answer is more straightforward than many might imagine, given that it is a simple matter of 'association'. If thin models with size zero figures rule the front covers and the media and thus attract a princess' purse with the attendant fascination of prospective suitors, then it is perhaps inevitable that an impressionable youth will seek to emulate them. If however models with hourglass figures grace the magazines and the media, they will become perceived to be the more attractive, desirable and successful caste. Such a shift in editorial policy would reduce the incidence of teenage eating disorders overnight. One effective solution might be to prohibit all models falling below a 'threshold' body weight from appearing on or between magazine covers, although this would just be lurching from one extreme to another. There is however a strong case to be made for featuring more shapely models on the covers and catwalks.
There are many tales of models who literally starved themselves in order to become acceptable in the eyes of their mentors. In her recent autobiography 'Hungry' Crystal Renn, an American model who later made the successful transition to a larger dress size, describes how she was recruited at the tender age of thirteen and told to lose more than 40% of her body weight to secure a $250,000 contract in New York. Starting professional life in 2002 on a regime of wholemeal bread and egg whites at the peak of the size zero era, Crystal eventually 'graduated' to a size four on a calorie-free crusade of lettuce and Diet Coke. Crystal eventually realised that she had developed an eating disorder, and her iron resolve finally broke when her bookers told her that her legs were 'too large' to secure a $40,000 contract. Rebellion followed in the form of an avocado and walnut salad, and Crystal took four months off to recuperate and learn more about nutrition in her quest for a healthier lifestyle and a more accommodating agency. Since joining Ford Models, which also caters for the size 12-22 fashion market, Crystal, now 23 and size 12, has found work with Vogue, Saks, Elle, Dolce & Gabbana and Glamour, and has featured in runway shows for leading designer Jean-Paul Gaultier. Crystal was and is by no means alone. Inga Eiriksdottir, another successful convert to the demimonde of plus-sized modelling, was 'asked' by a New York agency to slim down from a size 8 to a 'perfect' 0 at the age of 15, a tough ask for any young woman, let alone one who stands almost 6 feet tall. Since the day Inga decided not to fight her genes and instead to become a plus-sized model, she has found gainful employment with Vanity Fair, Bloomingdale's, Saks & Macy's. We will of course never hear the tales of Ana Carolina Reston, Hila Elmalich, or of Luisel & Eliana Ramos, fashion models who tragically starved themselves to death in an attempt to meet their employers' exacting expectations.
'The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty' and 'All Walks Beyond the Catwalk' are of course euphemisms for lobbies promoting the wider acceptance of the fuller figure. Too mild mannered and subtle in their approach to ruffle many feathers, such pressure groups are the breeze that precedes the gale. Carol Anne Grayson perhaps best summed up the prevailing mood during a recent debate on Facebook. 'As a confident and curvy woman who has never been short of attention perhaps we need some celebrities brave enough to make public statements [that] there are 'real and proud'. I worked with young girls with anorexia/bulimia for a while as a psychiatric nurse [and] there is nothing attractive about a dying young woman in hospital hiding a suitcase of vomit under her bed - that is the reality! As a young girl growing up in the 1970s I do not feel that I was bombarded with unnatural images of emaciated teenagers. I remember the Lambs Navy Rum ads. I don't know what size Caroline Monro was, but she looked healthy and curvaceous. I wanted to look like her! Let's see more inner beauty reflected on the printed page. Where are today's Monro, Loren and Bardot? We don't need caricatures with grossly inflated body parts either. Keep it natural, keep it real!'

The fantasy world of fashion

Although the editors of several leading fashion magazines are broadly in favor of more plus-sized models and fashions, many fashion purists object 'in principal' to the idea of high end designer fashions that pander to size 14 (the most popular American dress size) and beyond. In fact most modern designers rarely cater to anyone above a size 10, or size 12 at a push, despite the vast size and affluence of the 12+ market. Eccentrically, this strategy preserves the exclusivity and high ticket prices of designer clothes and ensures that the wives and girlfriends of the sophisticates who can afford such luxuries maintain measurements fitting to their social caste. Thus the pressure for trim fashions would appear to be eugenically as well as financially inspired, directly stigmatising those who fall into the 'lower caste' of higher dress sizes. Maintaining such exclusivity helps to 'justify' the four to five figure price tags that top designers command, while mainstream fashions yield leaner margins. Less genetically gifted women are left to gape in awe and envy at those women who can fit into and therefore merit designer fashions which cost thousands. Clever associative psychology indeed. Meanwhile in the rarefied atmosphere of the chic cocktail bars which hold commanding views over the streets of the Western fashion capitals, the price of fitting into the world of high fashion has it costs...
The editor-in-chief of Glamour magazine has joined other industry leaders in asking for common sense to prevail over fashion gospel. Alexandra Shulman, the editor of British Vogue, recently wrote to a number of top designers requesting reform as even her established models have experienced difficulty in fitting into the fashion samples provided. Inevitably, if designers cut for smaller dress sizes then the magazines are forced to hire thinner models or else risk straining their relationship with their creative counterparts. Such a revolution, if indeed it ever comes, would take some years to percolate through the design process and assume living form on the catwalk.
Perhaps the reality is that the fashion magazine is a fantasy product designed to titillate the readers' imagination through the wonderment of their eyes. Whether the image of desire is a designer dress, a super car, a dream home, or a naked lady, the commodity sold is a colourful fantasy. The glossy magazine presents its voyeurs with eye-catching extremes of wealth, sexuality and performance to which they might aspire, or it may be the case that some readers merely seek to snatch a moment's escapism from the humdrum nature of their daily lives. Mature women who have piled on the pounds through age and their sedentary lifestyles naturally associate being thin with the beauty and the desirability of youth. If nostalgic images of svelte young models is their 'happy hunting ground', then some might argue that pictures of contemporary women smiling and reassuring them that age and responsibility are not so bad after all is not going to sell many copies of fashion magazines.
Others claim that there has been a seismic shift in the behavior of the cosmopolitan consumer in recent decades. Ben Barry of the University of Cambridge's Judge Business School conducted a study on how three thousand Western women responded to visual advertising. His research strongly suggests that female consumers are more likely to want to purchase a fashion product if the model depicted in the advertisement resembles them more closely. These latest findings do not however negate the 'aspirational argument', and women in the study group still expected the models to be beautifully and artistically presented, regardless of their age or dimensions.

Fashion magazines lose their lustre

Financially at least, those who inhabit the parallel universe of the fashion industry appear to be getting leaner. Glossy fashion titles are shedding inches as their readers lose their appetite and advertising budgets are trimmed. Revenues from fashion brands are reported to be down between 30% and 50%, and so their proprietors are seeking radical new ideas for advertising, notably within the areas of online media & marketing. The prevailing wisdom is that advertising delivered through digital media is more efficient, cost-effective and measurable. The global financial squeeze has already forced a number of fashion magazines to close their doors, specifically the so-called 'marginal titles' and brand extensions such as Cosmo Girl, Teen Vogue and Men's Vogue, enabling their publishing houses to consolidate and protect their flagship titles. Advertisers are also displaying renewed interest in television and web casting channels, especially as emerging online publications are presently enjoying a surge in popularity.
The advertising drought has been especially severe in the realm of the fashion magazine. In September 2007 Vogue published no fewer than 727 pages of ads, although currently advertising pages are down 36% year-on-year, while advertising revenues have fallen by 26%. Glamour's ad page count has also tumbled over the past year (by 42%), and other notable titles such as Self (51%), W (41%), Allure (52%), Teen Vogue (32%), Elle (20%), Bazaar (20%) and GQ (32%) have also suffered a slump in demand for advertising. Lean times indeed...
The systemic decline in advertising revenues is not solely due to diminishing budgets. The current trend would suggest that the major fashion advertisers are switching their attentions toward new media platforms. In 2008 Louis Vuitton doubled their digital ad spend while Diane Von Furstenberg increased their online outlay to $43,000. Although such numbers do not indicate a gold rush, they represent a gathering wind which will blow through the well-heeled corridors of fashion. Twitter and DailyCandy have already proven especially attractive as portals to a new generation of discerning buyers as well as the discriminating rich, and the new online market tigers Style.com and Glammedia.com are certainly benefiting from the gathering momentum towards online advertising.
Perhaps most striking change is in the behavior of the fashion consumers. The growing availability of online content is making them altogether more discerning and they are, surprisingly, more than willing to buy online rather than from the boutique. It is the consumer, rather than the magazine editor, who is fast becoming the driver of new fashion trends. Although supermodels continue to command super salaries, the ability of magazine editors to dictate fashion trends and with them large incomes is fading along with their star. The swing from print to Internet media means that the once all-powerful fashion magazine editors no longer determine what the consumer will see and therefore be influenced to buy. This in turn weakens the long-standing dependency of advertisers upon fashion magazines. While the glossy fashion magazine may live on for decades, its heyday is certainly at an end, and any economic recovery will not be matched by a revival in circulations. It would seem that higher prices, print-on-demand and mail order have become the future of a viable fashion magazine industry.

Beyond size 14 - the emergence of super-sized labels and designers

In spite of the prevailing publicity, there are still relatively few designers who serve the plus-sized fashion market. There are some designers and niche companies who do venture into the forbidden realm beyond size 14, and their numbers are steadily swelling. Michael Kors, Isaac Mizrahi (Liz Claiborne, New York), Gayla Bentley and Baby Phat all create chic styles for the fuller figure, and Mark Fast himself is rumoured to be creating a new range exclusively for Topshop. There are even some specialist retailers who deal exclusively in fashions above size 14, including Torrid and Australian outlet City Chic.
Those who would suggest that plus-sized models are a relatively recent revelation seem unaware of the cyclical nature of fashion. Those within the fitness, adult and glamour modelling industries will happily tell you that women with curves have been adored, desired and richly employed for generations. Who knows, someone may even have the temerity to let the fashionistas in on the dirty little secret that real men prefer curves...