Fashion Crowd Weighs In On Plus-Size Models (VIDEO)

The Cut asked the fashion crowd to weigh in on plus-size models and the responses were...well, interesting.

Designer Douglas Hannant told the camera, "I think plus-sized women can be beautiful, but it's not my ideal on the runway because I'm not doing a plus-size line. I feel that a model is like an athlete. She needs to be in runway shape." Stylist Annabel Tollman remarked that she hates the term entirely and model Maggie Rizer said she "thinks the industry is probably over-compensating a bit."

Check out more fashion week coverage at The Cut.

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Comments

[NoLinos]

01:22 PM on 02/15/2011

Men who don't like women's bodies shouldn't design for them.

[Brian Waters]

11:24 AM on 02/15/2011

Why are otherwise normal sized people referred to as "plus size" anyway? Heck, even some fit people are referred to as plus size in the fashion industry...

[mmgbizgirl]

10:27 AM on 02/15/2011

Most designers are still of the mind that they want a size 0 or 2 for runway. I don't see that changing for most designers anytime soon. You can see their faces twitch when they talk about it.

[nycagnes]

01:06 AM on 02/15/2011

Unfortunately Cindy Crawford would probably be considered a plus size model today. One of the most beautiful bodies of the 20th century and in my humble opinion today as well. Today's models are nothing more than skin and bones and help promote anorexia. Yes I understand models have always been on the thin side so that the clothes hang better, but it is not a pleasant sight to see bones sticking out.

[Aitch5]

08:47 PM on 02/14/2011

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[Shahzad Jahangeir]

11:57 PM on 02/13/2011

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[Shahzad Jahangeir]

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[Nancy Lynne Kriescher]

08:45 AM on 02/13/2011

Model' like an athlete? Ok, but there is nothing attractive about a starved, taut, aged 'face, from starving, either.;:) Model can be slim, but still have 'softness in her face.. that is "Beauty."

[MsVella]

08:31 AM on 02/13/2011

Completely disagree with having plus sized models. When you see a plus sized model on the run way your first thought is, what a beautiful woman, or she looks great. Meaning you see the model. With regular models, they're there, they look beautiful but they don't distract form the clothes.

Fashion shows are about clothes NOT models.

And there's nothing wrong with the term plus-sized. A size 10 or 12 is a plus sized model. Are they a plus sized person? No, not really, but they definitely are a plus sized model. Why is that offensive?

[Sunflo]

11:32 AM on 02/13/2011

"With regular models, they're there, they look beautiful but they don't distract form the clothes.
Fashion shows are about clothes NOT models."
If that's correct then how do you reconcile that with the cult of models/supermodels and their positions as the standard setters for female beauty?

[writergal28]

10:40 PM on 02/13/2011

And not to mention that some models are so thin that they are a distraction...they become the focus and not the clothes.

[MsVella]

02:46 PM on 02/14/2011

We are talking about runway models and NOT supermodels or other types of models. Supermodels are considered the be the standard setters of female beauty. Supermodels are COMPLETELY different in purpose and image than regular models.

[MNmommy]

02:59 PM on 02/13/2011

Sizes over 6 are generally referred to as plus-sized, THAT is the problem.

[FPhoebe]

02:00 AM on 02/13/2011

I'm currently working on my final semester fashion line in college, and to be honest I agree with what the designers are saying about working with people who are what would be considered in the industry to be "plus sized."

It takes a lot of work to measure people who are not a perfect size 0 (not saying that a size 0 is perfect, I mean that they are very slim with no variations in hips, waist, etc). Designers do not have the time to go around looking for models of different sizes and fit the clothes to their specific body, only to have their body change in the weeks leading up to Fashion Week. When pattern-making, creating slopers is not fun, but it's especially not fun to make a sloper that is someone's exact measurements when those exact measurements can change fairly easily. Ever notice that when designers use "plus size" models in their shows, it's only one (two at most)? They have to measure those models beforehand, and hope their weight doesn't fluctuate too much. It's different when the clothes go into production...they aren't going to necessarily fit everyone's body perfectly, but they don't have to. The runway clothes have to fit the models well or no merchandisers would want to buy the garments.

I don't agree with the size they begin with to refer to as "plus" but I do agree that it is necessary to use smaller models, for practicalities sake.

[saskatoonie]

02:19 AM on 02/13/2011

That's bu!!.....fashion has been oppressing women for years. A designer worth their salt would not use the measurement factor as an excuse!

[ELS1976]

02:23 PM on 02/14/2011

F&F My thoughts exactly

[chaucerwinnie]

04:48 AM on 02/13/2011

thanks for your point of view. i never thought about fashion that way.

[Cassandrawept]

12:54 AM on 02/13/2011

J thought they were talking about real plus size models. Plus size is 14 up in the U.S. I've noticed some of the models ii my fashion magazine are a little more fleshy than concentration camp corpses. But-just barely...

[femmyror]

11:13 PM on 02/12/2011

I would never expect a designer to across the board go for plus size models – maybe one or two 'token' voluptuous models, if you will, maybe someone with a pseudo-celebrity status (like Sophie Dahl a few years back, who was sort of a blonde Christina Hendricks (of Mad Men)). But if it's not a plus-size line, then why? The clothes are going to look better on regular, thin models... They are! So shoot me... Why are models tall and thin? Why have models always been tall and thin? Because clothes look good on tall, thin people, that's why...* And the designers want their clothes to look good. So, there you go... It's a no-brainer.

Instead of asking for more plus-size models on the runway, which is completely unrealistic, kind of ridiculous even (see * above), I think the focus should be on the weight change that has happened in the last decade or so, where the REGULAR models are now pretty much skeletal, probably 15-20 lbs lighter than they were in the heyday of the supermodels – Cindy Crawford et al in the 90's, and Iman and Jerry Hall before them, in the 70's. They would be considered borderline too heavy in today's modeling world! THAT is absolutely absurd to me.

[efffox]

09:36 PM on 02/12/2011

The fashion industry is full of gay men who just want to see their clothes on little boys' bodies. The question is why women continue to allow men to determine what is beautiful, rather than demanding clothes that actually flatter a woman's natural curves. If I wanted to see clothes like that, I can just look at them on the hangar.

[genrel1248]

07:58 PM on 02/12/2011

OHHHH! I get it .... Weighs in on Plus Sized Models. HAHAHA wow these headline writer are SOOOO clever.