Where are the diverse body types on major catwalks and in the Fashion Industry?
After decades of super slim models dominating in the fashion industry, why is there still a lack of diverse body types in a constantly changing climate?
Beauty is constantly evolving, and when I asked my Instagram followers to vote for their opinions via my Instagram story, the vast majority voted that they wanted to see variety on the catwalks.
Back in September 2019 singer turned business module Rihanna, bought her Savage Fenty Lingerie collection to the catwalk stage for New York Fashion Week and challenged the ideal image of beauty. Rihanna is no stranger to using diverse women of all complexions, shapes and sizes for her make-up and beauty campaigns.
She applied the same formula to her catwalk show and showed women of all different heights and body types, confidently modelling her underwear line. So why have major fashion designers not taken the same approach as Rihanna until recently?
Victoria Secret cancelled their show this year and claimed its ‘evolve the messaging of [of the company]’- The announcement comes months of speculation and the lowest ratings ever for the show in 2018. As the times are changing, people want to see beauty on the catwalk that reflects the variety in every day beauty.
Victoria Secret has caught heat for not being more inclusive in their brand. Chief marketer, Edward Razek stated in a Vogue interview ‘that there was no place for plus-size or transgender models’ at Victoria secret fashion shows
However, they are a few exceptions. Fashion designers Christian Siriano, Cushnie, Prabal Gurung and Chromat continue their history of casting different models of all different sizes. Chromat is an inclusive brand launched in 2010 in New York City and explores architecture, fashion, and technology, designing outfits to enhance the body movements.
According to their website, their team are diverse designers who aim to empower ‘ChromatBABES’ of all shapes and sizes and reinforce the message they are many versions of beautiful and everyone is worthy of love, acceptance and empowering swimwear.
Plus size models walked in their show for New York Fashion Week earlier this year. Three designers hired plus size models and 41 of the 68 plus size models were only in three shows according to The Huffington Post UK. Although, according to fashion spot’s seasonal diversity report for New York fashion week 68 plus size models walked 19 shows for spring 2020 — up from the previous season when 37 models walked in 12 shows.
Back in August, Tyler McCall, who is an Editor-In-Chief recently tweeted:
Ashley Graham is very transparent about her privilege and speaks about the fact not every plus size model has the same platform as she does and she speaks up about the lack of visibility for plus size models and tokenism on her YouTube channel.
To understand how society represents body types today, let’s go back in time and see how the ‘ideal’ beauty has changed over the different period of times.
The Paleolithic era
One of the earliest pieces of art is also a primitive symbol of an idealised woman. Notice how she doesn’t reflect the models that are successful today. The Venus of Willendorf, a statue crafted somewhere between 24,000–22,000 BCE. Venus represents ‘fertility’, her voluptuous figure is way beyond curvy by today’s standards. The figure doesn’t have a face, no eyes, lips or mouth — which places an emphasis on her large breasts, large hips and a rounded stomach. She also doesn’t have arms, hands or feet. A big healthy body was all that mattered.
Ancient Greek
Artists created ancient statues in their idealized forms — women that had large hips, full breasts and a not quiet flat stomach.
I spoke with the twenty-year-old model Tash Soodeen, and we sat and discussed body types and the definition of ‘plus size’ models. With her piercing blue eyes and natural dark tanned skin tone, Tash gets scouted by model agents a few times before finally starting a modelling career professionally as a teenager. Tash has even be compared to Adriana Lima and talks about being a size 12 in an industry where the majority of girls are a UK size 8 with a few size 14 to represent plus size.
Tash also models lingerie and is proud of her body proportions, explaining how being half Trinidadian, she is naturally curvy and would never put her health at risk to fit a smaller size. She recognises that there is a lack of size 12 models or and the industry doesn’t really reflect the rest of us. However she mentions the industry seems to like the extremes, being extremely thin or extremely voluptuous/beyond curvaceous.
The Renaissance era
From 1300 to 1500 artists began painting women in a different light, they started painting naked breasts that symbolized a mixture of fertility and sexuality.
I interviewed Anne Boultwood, who is a reader in the Psychology of Fashion for the School of Fashion and Textiles, and also established and leads the Fashion and Textiles Research Group. She gives some insight on the ideal beauty of women in the 1800s and why body standards in fashion has changed and the current state of beauty definitions.
Anne states that in 12th-13th century ‘thin was in’ and men and women suffered with anorexia and starved themselves trying to maintain a super thin image.
During the middle ages emphasis was placed on spiritualism, and the ideal spiritual body was a body that didn’t have physical attributes. Thin women, without noticable breasts or feminine features were considered more attractive because they didn’t have the body that tempted men.
Anne explains that in the 17th-18th century, you see the rounded and voluptuous figure that you see in the paintings. Being full figured also used to imply that you were wealthy and associated with a higher class and social status.
In the 20th century the shift begins, 1920s just before the first world war, moving away from the Edwardian period saw women entering the workplace for the first time and taking on the male role and the boyish was considered attractive.
In the 1950s, playboy magazine is born, barbie is brand new and Marilyn Monroe embodies the ideal beauty. Pin-ups were popular and curves represented attractiveness and ‘fertility’ and the hip to waist ratio was almost exaggerated.
It wasn’t long before slim came back in during ‘The Mod era’ when Twiggy became the face of 1966 and after the 70s disco era; the 80s introduced exercise and for the first time muscles are desirable for women. Women were now using exercise to achieve their slender physique.
In the 1990s the ‘supermodel’ era encouraged the waif look, models often looked thin and seen as ‘herion chic’.
Anne explains: that in fashion, the reason tall thin women are the ideal and are most seen on catwalks is because, many designers like their clothes to appear like they are on hangers and you can achieve this illusion on long and slim bodies.
Ispoke with Professor Colin Gale, who is Director of Post-Graduate Programmes in Fashion and Textiles. I asked him questions about the evolution of beauty.
Colin describes how trends influenced the body ideal during the 1960s, ‘Twiggy portrayed the period people [from the 1920s], you had the mod era and pop culture’ — The Great Gatsby which looked back to the 1920s, so there was a revival of the flapper era of the 1920s’
He also described how politics impacted how people saw their bodies, it was a rebellious time for fashion and beauty. Colin says that politics and the black beauty movement challenged beauty ideals and made people redefine what is considered ‘beautiful’.
He also says that beauty standards differ from different communities, for an example in the black community having a ‘booty’ and curves has always been the standard of beauty. A great example of this is the release of Sir Mixalot ‘Baby got back’ in 1992 when most high fashion models were waif like.
I contacted Dean Fallon who is a specialist in Fashion Design at Birmingham City University and when he shared his views on the body shapes in the beauty industry. He says.
‘At the end of the day, in my opinion, fashion is a commodity and the catwalk as a marketing platform is selling the aspirational. There is a massive social shift to greater diversity and inclusion of all body types for which areas of the fashion industry are following suit.’
The fashion industry is slowly changing; in another ten years, we may finally see a wider range of beauty standards taking over.
Contacts:
Tash Soodeen via Instagram
Anne Boultwood, reader in the Psychology of Fashion
Professor Colin Dale, Director of Postgraduate programmes in Fashion and Textiles
Dean Fallon, Lecturer BA (Hons), Fashion Designer