Heathy Curves Back On The Runway

The decrease of "beanpoles" on the latest runway shows was noticeable. New York and London Fashion Weeks have featured more normal-sized women catwalking this year.


Though IMG vice-president Fern Mallis did not attend the CFDA's panel discussion on fashion industry and body image the day before New York Fashion Week, she was glad to notice healthier models on the runway.

"I was here at the Tents, but I haven't seen so many scary-looking girls this time," she commented during the Naeem Khan show.

"I was just at a show sitting with the husband of a designer who said a girl came in for a fitting and her legs looked like poles, and they said, 'No.' It was great at Calvin's show to see some of the old girls back, like Stella Tennant and Kristen McMenamy, and Michael Kors had Frankie Rayder. They're gorgeous girls. They weren't beanpoles, they're still gorgeous."

The same trend was also noticeable at the London Fashion Week. Even Kate Moss walked the Fashion for Relief runway with more body fats. Supermodel Naomi Campbell also welcomed the arrival of many normal-sized women on the catwalks, as well as the plus-size models. She was quoted as saying:

"I think the bigger the better. I don't comment on size, I think if someone is beautiful then they should do what they want to do."

Fashion designer Borun Aksu also noted after his show that larger, healthier models appear to have made a breakthrough on the catwalks:

"Over the last couple of seasons they have become more noticeable. You also notice that these are girls who look healthy and happy."

Mark Fast's runway show has featured four plus-size models led by Crystal Renn, size-16 and one of the most famous plus-size models today.

Meanwhile, giant high street retail store Debenhams has started replacing some of its size ten mannequins with plus size models more suited to the average British woman's size 14-16.

"The average British woman is a size 14 to 16 and it's important that the woman on the street is able to walk into a shop and feel comfortable with the choice available," said Sarah Travers who runs Europe's largest plus-size modeling agency.

Tyra Banks Launches Plus-Size Teen Model Search!

Tyra Banks raises a new challenge for the fashion industry as she launches the first-ever modeling competition for plus-sized teens!


"Tyra's Fiercely Real Teen Model Search" searches the country for plus-sized girls aged 13-19 and between 5'9" and 6'1".

"I've always felt it was my mission to expand the narrow perceptions of beauty; through America's Next Top Model, True Beauty and The Tyra Show I challenge industry and universal standards by featuring and celebrating non-traditional beauty, and stressing that true beauty is both inside and out," says the supermodel of fierceness.

The modeling competition will not air on TV but will be launched exclusively on The Tyra Show website where the young curvy models will be presented to the community.

But wait there's more!

The winning plus-sized teen model will get 1-year modeling contract with Wilhelmina modeling agency, a fashion spread on Tyra's MagaLine (to be shot by the supermodel herself), a cover photo with Tyra Banks on Tyra's MagaLine, and a spread in a major fashion magazine.

For all the effort, Tyra Banks says:

"Plus-sized tends to have a negative connotation and I want young girls to realize that what's considered plus-sized is the average American woman. That woman is healthy, fit and beautiful. Adolescence is such an impressionable time in a young woman's life, and I hope this contest helps teen girls discover their own beauty from the inside out."


For more information about this casting, please go to the New Faces Casting Calls page and click on "Tyra's Fiercely Real Teen Model Search."

Plus-Size Model Vs Skinny Model: "One Size Fits All"

Plus-size model Crystal Renn is pitted against the skinny Jacquelyn Jablonski by posing side-by-side in next month's issue of V Magazine.


The "Size Issue" includes a spread shot by Terry Richardson. It is called "One Size Fits All" and features the fashion models in same looks and similar poses. The poses are said to create a "sizeable" comparison with the purpose of proving that "fashion can flatter any figure."

Witness how the plus-size and the skinny flatter the clothes with their different body measurements:

Jacquelyn Jablonski: 5 ft, 9 in; 32/24/34
Crystal Renn: 5 ft, 9 in; 36/31/41

Does fashion really look good on a plus-size model or a skinny model?
You'll be the judge!

Lara Stone Narrates Life As A Curvy Model

Curvy and proud size 4, supermodel Lara Stone talks about her early hardships in the modeling industry in latest Vogue interview.


When you're a model, nobody calls you fat. "What they say is 'curvy' but you know they mean fat," says Dutch supermodel Lara Stone who stands 5'10" and wears a size 4. And the fat label could only get worse. When the stylists started whispering in a corner after trying on clothes for ten minutes, "that is when I know I'm about to be canceled."

Like most fashion models, Lara Stone was scouted in her teens. Back then, she was a "typical angry teenager" with no interest other than cigarettes and dressing up for the Halloween. During one of her family's trip to Paris, she was scouted by an agent in the Métro. She spent a few years in Paris living the typical life of a struggling model — sharing an apartment with five other girls, went on endless casting calls ("Walk. Turn. Walk. Thank you"), and posed for catalog shoots that "paid well but not spectacularly."

By the age of 22, Lara Stone met Derek Dayley, a young agent at IMG who was intrigued by her unconventional looks. "She had been pigeonholed as this pretty, fresh-faced blonde, but I saw something else. She's got this interesting, one-of-a-kind beauty," the agent would later reveal.

The big model agency has helped paved the way for Lara Stone's career. She soon appeared in ad campaigns for Givenchy, Calvin Klein, and Hugo Boss. She also walked the runway for almost every major designer including Marc Jacobs, Balmain, and Isabel Marant.

Despite the success, it is still not easy for a young girl to constantly feel being the different one. And for a size 4 model in the land of size zeros, famous Lara Stone is always considered as the odd one.

"It's depressing when the clothes don't fit and you are always the odd one out... I was on a shoot just last week. And the stylist took out this tight corset dress and said, 'Here, put it on,' and I was like, 'Who are you kidding?' There was no way, so that was very rude of her. It's like, come on, she's a woman; whether you're buying jeans at the mall or wearing couture, you know what it's like for clothes not to fit. It's not an easy kind of rejection, because it's very personal. It's you, your body. You take it to heart."

Despite the "curvy" praises, Lara Stone soon began to feel the pressure of losing weight. She went on diet and exercise, but nothing worked. She even tried pills but stopped because it made her heart race. Eventually, she started drinking alcohol to get through the day.

Still, nobody seemed to notice ("In this job, you're always in different countries with different people.") and soon, Lara Stone's alcohol problems got worse. "I was waking up shaking. I couldn't do anything until I had a drink. I hated it. I didn't like the person I became. Plus, I was looking like absolute shit, waking up with a swollen red face, pimples everywhere," she recalled.

Admitting to herself that she really had a problem, she voluntarily checked into a month-long alcohol rehabilitation program in South Africa. "I thought it would be like a holiday, but it turned out I was in lockdown for 23 hours. It was really not a holiday. It was a lot of therapy, a lot of crying, and a lot of difficult moments," she said.

But the therapy was also successful. She has not had a drink for eight months. And months later, Lara Stone was back on on the scene, an unlikely but rising supermodel strutting her curves and even winning the hearts of fashion critics.

As they say, clothes hang better on a coat hanger but some clothes look better on bodies with "boobs."

Karl Lagerfeld, a fan of the model's fuller figure, says "Lara Stone has a gorgeous woman's body."

Virginia Smith, the fashion market editor of Vogue, says "Lara makes clothes look good. It's refreshing to see her come down the runway. Sometimes I'll call in a piece, it will arrive, and I'll think, Why did I think I liked that? Then I'll remember, Oh, because Lara wore it."

Renowned fashion photographer Mario Testino says "I have never thought of Lara as fat. It is just a matter of different shapes. It reminds me of when I started to work with Gisele; everyone used to think that she was too voluptuous. Look at where she is now!"

Lara Stone, indeed, is in every inch a supermodel at the peak of her career — despite that her size remains an issue.

As for her personal issues, the curvy supermodel just says "I like my job. I don't want to do anything else... People think I'm angry because of my face, or that I'm a sex bomb. I'm neither... People still tell me I'm fat, but when I look in the mirror, that's not what I see."

Plus Size Models For V Magazine's January Issue

"Big, little, pint-size, plus-size — every body is beautiful."

V Magazine is reportedly featuring an all-plus size models in its upcoming January issue. Because the decision has come after the hit of the blackface issue in November, some call it the new publicity horse.


The issue will feature Crystal Renn and other plus size models, to be shot clothed and nude by photographers Terry Richardson, Bruce Weber, and Karl Lagerfeld.

Karl Lagerfeld? He is the one who expressed his disagreement of plus size models in October, saying "No one wants to see curvy women. You've got fat mothers with their bags of chips sitting in front of the television and saying that thin models are ugly."

Well, seeing curvy women through the lens of the camera is probably his New Year's resolution.

The decision to devote the January 2010 issue of V Magazine to plus size models is a so-called "proof" that curvy women are "also" beautiful. "Big, little, pint-size, plus-size — every body is beautiful. And this issue is out to prove it," says V editor Stephen Gan.

V Magazine is following the steps of Vogue Italia when it incorporated in its publication an issue devoted to Black models. The effect has been phenomenal. It has effectively made a statement that seems to call on giving nonwhite models a fair shot at the modeling industry. But after the sensational release of the "Black" magazine, nothing more is heard of it and no black or nonwhite models have been regularly featured in its publications.

Critics forecast the same for V Magazine. It would devote an issue to plus size models that seemingly calls out to the fashion industry to give curvy women a fair chance at runway shows, ad campaigns, and editorials. But after that, there would be no new idea incorporated into its editorial concepts.

Unlike Glamour Magazine which promises to regularly feature plus size models in its future issues, V Magazine's "plus size models only" issue is just like a trend, a "big" splash with an anticipated patronizing effect using curvy models that it once have shunned.

Plus-Size Model Emme Urges Women To Protest Against Ralph Lauren

Emme, one of the largely recognized leading and highest earning plus-size model in the industry today, is urging women to speak out against the way Ralph Lauren is fraudulently presenting women in its advertising campaigns.


Emme's statement against Ralph Lauren is sparked out by the controversy surrounding the excessive digital alteration of Ralph Lauren model Filippa Hamilton and the following termination of her contract over alleged weight issue.

As a pioneer in plus-size modeling, Emme also had her share of unjust termination because of weight gain:

"As a model I was released from jobs for no apparent reason, just saying that they were moving on, and it was understood. I had to be thick skinned to deal with the industry."

Currently the host of Fox's reality dating series, More to Love, the 46 year-old model believes that the only way to change the trend of the fashion industry for favoring thin and digitally altered models is to make consumers speak up and take action:

"It's time for women to start uniting online and communicating about this, to really put their foot down. They are in the driver's seat, because they are the ones spending the money!"

Emme also calls on powerful design company to represent a more realistic image of the American woman in their advertising campaigns:

"Ralph Lauren needs to change the way he promotes the beautiful American family. He needs to use more diverse models, including plus size ones."

Even Plus-Size Models Damage Women's Self-Esteem

Even plus-size models damage overweight women's self-esteem. This is according to a study by a team of researchers from the U.S., Germany, and the Netherlands.


As published in the Journal of Consumer Research, the new study reveals that regardless of the models' weight, fuller women always feel worse about themselves upon looking at photos of models. How does this happen?

Plus-size women tend to identify their similarities to models, unfavorably comparing themselves to the skinny models and finding their similarity to the fuller models depressing.

On the other hand, thin women compare themselves to models and get a lift of their self-esteem when they realize they are more like the thin models.

"Overweight women's self-esteem always decreases, regardless of the model they look at."

This is actually because it is not the body of an ultra-thin or a plus-size model that affects the woman's self-esteem, but the presentation of beauty.

A model's image in any commercial medium like magazine is always rooted on one purpose — to sell. Whether or not it presents a roster of thin or plus-size models, it should not be looked upon as the major player of social change. While featuring plus-size models on fashion magazines and ad campaigns may influence people's perception of beauty, it's main purpose is still the aesthetic value like the diversity of models, the easiest way for it to become interesting.

This goes to mean that every glossy magazine and commercial ad is a culprit to a damaged self-esteem. The study notes that overweight and underweight women are more or less similar on the levels of self-esteem when they are not looking at models.

In other words, if any fuller woman who looks at a glossy magazine does not have a healthy understanding of the difference between fashion imagery and real life, she will always suffer lower self-esteem.

When this happens, it is best to take the recommendation of the researchers: overweight consumers should avoid looking at ads with any models — thin or heavy.

Plus-Size Models Go Nude For Glamour Magazine

Glamour did it again. In its November issue, the magazine featured not just one but seven gorgeous plus-size models who posed naked for an au naturel photo shoot, and continued the efforts of pushing the boundaries of accepted beauty norms.


Photographed by Matthias Vriens-McGrath, the seven knock-out beauties who went nude for the glossy fashion magazine were Crystal Renn, Lizzie Miller, Kate Dillon, Ashley Graham, Jennie Runk, Amy Lemons, and Anasa Sims.

As part of Glamour's "body image revolution," the nude photo shoot with the plus-size models include an article by Genevieve Field, which discussed the fashion industry's weght obssession. The article cited that the reason why a woman who measured 6 and above is considered plus-size is because they are really too big for the designers' sample clothes, which usually fall between 0 to 4, only.

Aside from featuring nude plus-size models on the magazine, Glamour magazine has mentioned to feature a greater range of body types in its upcoming pages, "including in fashion and beauty stories (traditionally the toughest areas for even the top 'plus-size' models to crack)."

London Fashion Week Embraces Diversity

The London Fashion Week this year is getting high praise and publicity for embracing diversity on the runway with an array of models who are plus-size, black, and around 70 years old.


PPQ clothing line presented its spring 2010 collection in a line-up of exclusively black girls while Sykes collection used models with wide range of ages up to 70. Fashion designer Mark Fast, on the other hand, had three size 14 models in his show.

While London Fashion Week successfully showed diversity, it did not end without controversy especially on having the plus-size models share the runway with the typical slim and pale-looking girls.

Intent to prove that his designs are not only for skinny girls, Mark Fast decided to include three bigger models on the last minute. This decision prompted his casting director to walk out. The show's stylist was also rude to the models so that the team was forced to fire her. Stylist Daniela Agnelli stepped up to save the day, including finding solution to the need of larger models for supportive underwear beneath the tight dresses. The show was overall a success, although there have been complaints about the nude thongs cutting into the plus-size model's skin and ruining the lines of the clothes.

This diversity on the catwalk is influenced by the launch of new fashion initiative, "All Walks Beyond The Catwalk", by Caryn Franklin. The British fashion expert and TV presenter believes that in order to change the shape of fashion, young designers have to be encouraged to have an inclusive attitude early in their careers.

Hopefully, this diversity on the catwalk will move towards an attitude that speaks of diversity and individuality.

Are Designers Ready For Fuller Models?

Crystal Renn and her fuller figure is talk-of-the-town these days. Probably the most famous plus-size model today, the size 12 model has already made it to four international Vogue editions, Italian Vanity Fair, Italian Elle, Cosmo Girl, and on Harper's Bazaar as the first plus-size model to appear on the cover of the magazine. Aside from magazine appearances, she also had stints on the catwalks for various designers including Jean Paul Gautier in 2006 (photo above) and Dolce & Gabbana.

Is fashion finally ready for a turn-around? Two prominent designers say so.

Roland Mouret thinks that we need to take a hint from the 80s. He tells Guardian:

"I see advertising going back to that powerful 1980s mentality, when girls like Linda (Evangelista) were ideal. Back in the 80s, when supermodels were several sizes larger than top models today, the clothes worked on bigger bodies. They were bright, bold, curve-enhancing."

Antonio Berardi agrees. Having troubles of finding girls with a womanly shape, he shares:

"We have to spend days altering things. We add padding and pieces that work inside the clothes to exaggerate their bodies into a more female form. I don't want all those girls with pale skin who look the same. My family is Italian – I am inspired by a womanly aesthetic."

From Waif To Plus-Size Model, Crystal Renn Shares Her Journey

With her memoir called "Hungry," fashion model Crystal Renn tells her journey from being a starving waif model to becoming a successful plus-size model.


Crystal Renn has been one of the many female models who starve to achieve a size 0, the only measurement that the fashion industry considered valid and model-appropriate not so long ago.

In an interview with The Post, the now size 12 model shares all the hardships that she have to go through just to be skinny and stay in the industry:


Crystal Renn was 14 when a scout told her to trim her "big" figure if she wants to become the next Gisele Bundchen. For a hopeful teen like her who stands 5'8" and weighs 165 pounds, losing weight became a profession. After 2 years of strict dieting (vegetables or plain chicken, only), she was already 5'9" and 95 pounds. That figure earned her the three-year, $250,000 contract with the agency. She dropped high school and moved to Manhattan with other models. To keep her skinny figure, she went to gym and ate less than 1,000 calories a day (vegetables for breakfast, lettuce for lunch, vegetables again for dinner).

However, her dieting soon paid its price. She lost her period and even the appeal to attract and get attracted to boys. At 18, her metabolism began to slow down. She tried to keep starving and eat as little as ever, but still she weighed 130 pounds.

At a Chicago shoot, Crystal Renn finally reached her breaking point. She arrived on the set only to be insulted by the photographer who refused to use her because she's "huge."

When she mumbled "You loved me at the casting four days ago," the producer snapped back "Did you gain 20 pounds in four days? You have to leave."

"It was the most humiliating moment of my life. But I collected myself, walked over to the catered food table and downed five plates of mini-burritos with cheese. I gorged on guacamole. I ate until I felt like I was going to throw up. 'Thanks for the food,' I yelled back and left. On the airplane home, I thought my career was over. I knew I was never going to weigh 95 pounds again. I was done. And for the first time in years, I could breathe."

But the modeling world did not really close its door on Crystal Renn. Arriving back in New York, her agent told her that she can still work as a model and aspire to work for Victoria's Secret (but never for Vogue). The option: becoming a plus-size model.

"I was too hungry to keep starving. I made my decision: I was going to be a plus-size model and let my body be what it was meant to be. When I first started eating normally again, I jumped to a size 16 for a few months before settling into a size 12. It was when I stopped starving myself that I became a famous model."


In 2004, Crystal Renn has posed for Teen Vogue. That same year, she has also fulfilled her dream of landing on the pages of American Vogue.

But making appearances in top magazines is not the only good thing that happen to a fuller, radiant Crystal Renn as she recalls, "At the same time I gained weight, I became interested in men." In 2005, the once asexual model has finally met her husband.

For all these experiences that Crystal Renn have to go through in her journey to become a model, she shares:

"Women are taught that if they get skinny, their lives will be perfect. But real life doesn't work that way. I'm here to prove it."