Gary Dakin, Head Of Ford's Plus-Size Models: 'It's Been A Struggle'

The Times UK recently caught up with Gary Dakin, who runs the plus-size division of Ford Models. He represents Crystal Renn (he even walked her down the aisle at her wedding) and Tara Lynn, among others, and is responsible for their multiple spreads in mainstream fashion magazines--most notably Renn's editorial in V Magazine and Lynn baring all in French Elle.

"A lot of people in the industry didn't like these kinds of images," told The Times about V's plus-size spread. "A lot. They said the girls looked cataloguey, or fat. This is bullshit. These girls look amazing."

He added, "We're not out there saying these are role models --we're selling clothes. If you don't want your daughter to look at these images then that's up to you. Whether you're straight size or plus size. Raise a happy, healthy, well-adjusted child and focus on your own part in that. Don't let the modeling industry do it for you."

Dakin saw a shift in model casting last year:

"It's been a struggle, for a long time," he tells me. "Not so long ago people were dismissive. Nobody wanted to shoot the bigger girls. Nobody wanted to give it a go. This year has been the culmination of about ten years of not saying no." Plus-size models were treated like provincial town football players who knock a ball about on Saturdays, especially since the early Nineties and the emergence of size 0 models. "I wouldn't even tell people what division I was from. I'd call up the client and say, 'I'm sending you this great girl!' and when they'd seen her they would ring back. 'But she's plump! Why didn't you tell us?'"

He believes that high-end brands will eventually start using bigger models, because regular-sized women (like Michelle Obama, he said) still want fashionable clothes.

So what inspired Dakin to promote plus-size beauty?

"I'm a gay man. I've known I was gay since I was 8. I always think of that horrible, horrible joke: 'God made gay men so heavy girls had someone to dance with at the school prom.'" He laughs and puts his head in his hands, momentarily embarrassed. "It's the underdog mentality. As a gay man I felt I understood what these girls had been through in the industry.

Comments

[Boadicea]

11:12 PM on 05/08/2010

I'm skinny but I love you Gary for what you are doing. Thank you!

[An Independent Woman]

10:09 AM on 05/10/2010

Why did you have to tell us you're skinny?

[BabaLou7]

08:46 PM on 05/08/2010

It's lovely that progress is being made. Now if only the plus size clothes themselves were more interesting and fashionable. Most of what's out there is garish and cheap looking, as if it were a throw away to the fat chicks.

[ColoradoCool]

07:59 PM on 05/08/2010

I didn't have a clue about this man before reading this article but now I LOVE this guy! You ROCK Gary!

[rbryanh]

06:28 PM on 05/08/2010

Like all corporations, the clothing industry exists to profit by selling more of whatever people will buy.

There are no evil misogynist homosexuals who live to hurt women's feet. There is no secret cabal strategizing how best to inflict eating disorders on young girls. There's only a multi-billion dollar industry that exists to produce whatever people will buy, and a related industry that exists to manipulate people into wanting more of it.

Advertising exists to sell things by any means available, but we forget that advertising is itself a product that we consume voluntarily. Of course advertising is all bs - it's sole reason for existing is to persuade people do what the advertisers believe they otherwise would not.

If you don't like fashion images, refuse to pay for them. If you think the ads in a magazine are destructive, throw the magazine away and never pick up another copy. If you think your television idolizes freaks and denigrates normal body types, cancel your cable and throw the box away. And finally, if you don't think the clothes look good on you, don't buy them.

The actions of corporations are largely controlled by their customers. If you don't like the images, the models, the clothes, or anything else about fashion, stop supporting it and it'll go away.

Stop whining about how victimized you are and be the change you want to see.

[Very Berry]

10:56 AM on 05/08/2010

Kepp it going Gary!

[PatricefromNH]

10:49 AM on 05/08/2010

Dear Mr. Dakin, Everyone secretly roots for the underdog. Thank you for being supportive and promoting women who represent us, the consumer. When I see a pretty, happy, smiling model that looks like a real women with curves in all the right places, it inspires me to take a second look at what she's wearing because I can finally picture how it would look on me. Now if you could get more short models for those of us in the petite department who need a stool to reach the top shelf of the kitchen cabinet!

[rbryanh]

06:07 PM on 05/08/2010

Uh... Everyone? If being gay qualifies me for underdog status, I'm not sure how decades of listening to bigots debate whether or not I'm entitled to civil rights counts as being rooted for.

To paraphrase, "With fans like fundamentalist Christians, who needs enemies?"

[JannielB]

10:43 AM on 05/08/2010

It's one thing to be at a healthy weight, and another to have flab hanging off one's body. Usually there is about a 20 pound cut-off line between the two. A few less pork chops and muffins per week should be enough to keep a body on the healthy side of the scale.

[Very Berry]

10:57 AM on 05/08/2010

That actually made me laugh!

[cybersense]

09:18 AM on 05/08/2010

Normal sizes are not "0" and although there are women you weigh more then they should, treating average size women like they are over weight is insane. I have muscle and that muscle wieghs something. This is over due!

[Elizabeth Stiletto]

02:17 AM on 05/08/2010

There was a discussion here tonight in Toronto with the fashion editor of The Washington Post and she talked about plus size models for a bit. She stated the problem lies with the designers a lot because they have an image of this perfect, glamourous customer and they usually don't envision their typical customer being 'average'. The truth of it is, as she stated, is that models right now are getting skinnier on the runway and our population is getting more obese.

Personally, I'd like to see more body diversity on the run way because this guy speaking in the article is 100% RIGHT. Look at Oprah; perfect example of a beautiful woman who adores couture. The population IS getting larger and women are understanding how to dress because fashion is so easily accessible. Believe it when this man speaks because he's right on the mark. Designers are going to HAVE to expand their sizes in the future whether they like it or not. Otherwise, they're going to go bankrupt.

And Kymber23; get a clue. The average woman in America isn't a size 6-8.

[ilovemyprez]

09:33 AM on 05/08/2010

Well hopefully the population will become healthier. We really need to slim down. Not everone is going to be a 0-4, but a 6-12 seems pretty reasonable for people who don't have a medical condition making them fat (and no, metabolism doesn't count)

[irisda]

07:18 AM on 05/09/2010

being slim doesn't signify good health. that's just a myth. We all know pretty slim people with less than ideal lifestyle habits and they don't get called out on it because we like to believe health has everything to do with size. Unless you're a doctor AND you've seen a person's medical history/charts you can't tell if they're healthy or not. Personally i'd rather not speculate on someone's health by looking at their body shape

[sulalives]

02:00 AM on 05/08/2010

I want to see women with curves being women not gay men that happened to a girl displaying a dress that does not focus on womenhood...plus sizes are art and women will pay the dollars to look great...the fashion industry needs a overhaul

[CK4NYSenate]

03:28 PM on 05/08/2010

¿¿¿ what ???

[muscleboundH]

02:32 AM on 05/09/2010

HUH?

[kymber23]

11:52 PM on 05/07/2010

OMG! These articles kill me. Size 0 or 14+. How about all the women in the mid range of these numbers.

Really, I'm from LA, California and wear a size 2, but I always thought size 6-8 were average sized woman. Rule of thumb - when you go into double digit sizes you're fat. The truth hurts!

[ubatuba]

04:25 AM on 05/08/2010

totally agree. and...

"we're not out there saying these are role models --we're selling clothes"...at least he puts it out there that these girls shouldn't be role models.

in all my years in marketing, i know advertising is best when 'aspirational'...that's why fat models just don't work. sure, applaud their self confidence...but no one in their right mind WANTS to be fat. they may accept it...but it's not a goalpost...

[ctblue]

08:15 AM on 05/08/2010

OMG! These girls aren't even CLOSE to fat!! They are bigger boned and more curvy. Give me more Christina Hendricks types any day. I'm sick of seeing sticks wearing clothes.

[cdnbystander]

09:43 PM on 05/08/2010

Yes it's much better to hang your head in a toilet trying to be a size zero. Those are much better role models.

[imfedup]

08:37 AM on 05/08/2010

I believe a size 14 is average in the U.S.

[mmgbizgirl]

08:10 PM on 05/07/2010

Smart designers know this is a hugely untapped market and are making clothes for plus size women that are practical, stylish and fun. The only thing that will change the fashion industry is money.

[killerbarbie]

07:26 PM on 05/07/2010

Why American people is so fat?

[GrownupStewie]

07:43 PM on 05/07/2010

Why you grammar skills is you fail at?

[vm12608]

11:15 AM on 05/09/2010

Hilarious!

[Daniela Smith]

09:26 AM on 05/11/2010

Hahahahahahaha! Fanned!

[P51MUSTANG]

08:14 PM on 05/07/2010

calories in >>> calories consumed

[MISTERUNCONVENTIONAL]

07:07 PM on 05/07/2010

Gee, I saw the headline and thought Ford MOTOR company was coming out with some models for "exceptionally large" people. It's only a matter of time, I guess.

[AlligatorShuz]

07:17 PM on 05/07/2010

Eileen Ford is from the Ford Family who owns Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan.

[Bexstarr]

11:50 PM on 05/07/2010

No she is not. The last name is just a coincidence. Ford is a very common last name.

[Cynth]

09:46 PM on 05/07/2010

The model is called the Ford Expedition. Fashion, however, has been ignoring larger (even normal) sized people for decades.

[tlgeiger62]

06:35 PM on 05/07/2010

What is SAD is that the industry and society think a size 14 is PLUS size. I have always thought plus sizes should start at size 18.

[sole]

09:31 PM on 05/07/2010

Too much fast food, high fructose corn syrup and diet coke makes you a plus size no matter how you look at it. 18 is a feel good way for feeling OK with a "plus" figure.

The American public needs to cut waaaayyy back on the crap they put in there systems. Yup, a generalized statement, but one that's backed up by fact.

[chillwind]

05:06 AM on 05/08/2010

My mom's vintage size 10's and 12's are the same dimensions as a current 4 and 6. We have gotten bigger and heavier, significantly, and in one generation.