The fake plus-size models, hired by brands to communicate how accessible clothes are to those with more abundant shapes, are an example of inclusivity washing. It is showing initiatives of inclusivity without a real strategy that seriously involves minorities, which effectively nullifies any differentiation in the face of diversity and which addresses the public avoiding any discrimination.

Norwegian model Karoline Bjørnelykke brought to light the case of fake plus-size models in fashion campaigns, telling in a video on Tik Tok:

I’m a plus-size model. Which means that I sometimes work for plus size brands. These brands typically carry size XL-5XL. If you have eyes, you can see that I’m not the size. So how do we fix this? Well, I have to bring something called padding work, which basically is fat suits. In pieces. Do you just stuff it? Like this, which makes you look a lot bigger, and if that isn’t enough, you just pin everything in the back. So if the close looks really good from the front, it probably looks like **** from the back. It’s because they want the neck and the face to look really slim and sharp, which doesn’t just create unrealistic standards, but impossible ones. You know, my suggestion is just use real plus size women because there are so many gorgeous women out there. And I have one more wish: can a plus-brand please for once not make something that’s horrific?

A pair of flesh-colored buttocks, chest and thighs, along with a spandex belt: it’s the fat pad kit for mid-size models. In a shoot where you are required to wear dozens of dresses, it is the easiest way to make clothes fit snugly, just like clothespins hidden from view and used to enhance the fit of garments in high fashion editorials.

There are many stories of women working as plus-size models using padding. These shots from Refinery29 show the difference between “with” and “without”:

(Photos: Refinery29)

The sector trend

The concept of plus-size models is to represent women in an inclusive way, and to be close to real people, moving away from the classic diktats of perfect bodies in fashion, not very representative of reality. In recent years we have seen a huge increase in visibility for plus size models on the runway, in advertisements, in fashion shoots. Many brands, including H&M and Abercrombie, have added plus size lines to their collections, increasing sales volumes. In the wake of the “diversity and inclusiveness” trend, such as green, the big brands have integrated the offer and included these themes in their marketing campaigns.

How much do brands make fun of us?

Another story: another cheat?

Placed third in America’s Next Top Model competition, plus-size model Khrystyana Kazakova was delighted to be working with a top-tier agency. Her enthusiasm soon faded, when she was told that her size 8 US (44 IT) wasn’t enough for the most tempting offers. “I was told that if I gained more weight, I would make more money”, Khrystyana says. So she changed her diet and exercise routines and gained weight, but not as the agency expected. “They want you to have an hourglass shape, she explains. “Before firing me, [they] implied that I looked bloated” (Source New York Post, July 2019).

In search of a new unrealistic beauty canon

Agents and clients look for a specific body shape: the chiseled hourglass shape, embodied by Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez. The problem mainly concerns “in-betweenies” models – sizes 10 and 12 US (New York Post, 2019). According to Chelsea Bonner, former model and founder of Bella management:

We’ve created an avatar of what is allowed to be plus-size. So you’re allowed to be curvy as long as you have a really tiny waist and no cellulite.

Paradoxically, real plus-size models struggle to work. We have come to outline another canon of ideal beauty that is difficult to find or achieve, because it is different from a real plus-size female figure: abundant body, breasts and buttocks but thin waist, face and wrists.

We ask for strict standards even for plus sizes: there is no peace for real women! Whether they are thin or plus-size, they have to contend with diets, the gym and body changes to gain weight or lose weight. We move away from the mentality of thinness at all costs to pursue another ideal that is almost impossible to embody.

Does everything start from design?

Does the ideal shape sought in campaign models come from how the clothes are designed? If brands produce dresses for a perfect hourglass figure that most normal or curvy women don’t naturally have, they look for modeling campaigns that enhance them. Designed for perfect shape, they will look their best on perfect bodies, no matter how fake they are.

Another cheat

Sizes of plus-size models vary by brand and agency. As a general rule, plus size models are defined by the fashion industry as those from a size 6-8 US and up (indicatively 42-44 IT). The average size of women in the United States is 14 US (50 IT), so sizes 6-8 cannot be considered “strong”. In our country, the most representative female size is 44, which becomes 48 between the ages of 50 and 64. The insiders therefore define plus-size as normal sizes. Nowadays, however, pressure is building up, leading the sector to consider as plus sizes those a little more in line with the public, at least from 16 US (52 IT) onwards.

The “one token curvy” model

This is what brands adopt when they advertise a single plus-size model to represent the totality of real women, while the other models instead follow the classic standards of thinness. They send us the message of being inclusive, but it actually seems like a sop with the air of a sprinkling of inclusiveness.

Not to mention Photoshop 

How much difference photo retouching can make and how misleading social media can be! Photoshop is a tool, but excessive use on social media, erasing any imperfections, can lead to insecurities. Applied to curvy women, apparently hired to represent the average woman, it helps to create an ideal too far removed from reality.

The models’ accountability

What should models do? Refuse to be complicit in the deception? Or are these works of art? Is it understandable that they agree to wear the pads to work? Write us in the comments or via email what you think (dress_ecode@icloud.com).

In an article by Refinery29, here’s what some of them say:

“Unfortunately, sometimes the smaller girls don’t work as much. I would hope that does change. That’s the middle range that people are missing” – Michelle Olson, JAG Models.

“There’s always some form of padding used — it’s like you’re sculpting your body. Is it realistic? It depends. If you look at it as artistic, then I can respect it. But, as an ideal for women? It’s unhealthy, because not a lot of women are going to look like that” – Brittnee Blaire, JAG Models.

“The whole padding thing started on the mannequins, because the mannequins are all shaped the same. But, it never bothered me. I’m not the one that shows up on set and is like, ‘Am I really wearing that?’ You can put me in anything, and as long as you pay me, I’m good. The padding pads me in areas I wish I had. Like butt padding. Everybody does it, surgically or not. What about collagen in your cheeks or lips, which lots of people are doing in the industry? That’s permanent padding. But, it’s all about feeling better about yourself.”- Kristina Wilson, JAG Models.

“I get backlash on social media for saying I’m a plus-size model. If I say I’m a model, they say, ‘Yeah right, you wish.’ But, if I say I’m a plus-size model, they’ll say, ‘No way, you are way too slim!’. I’m more of a 12, and plus is more of a 14 or 16. I didn’t want to put on more weight; I wanted to stay really healthy, and I think this is a good size for me. I would love to campaign for girls my size — I’m really proud of the size I am and the curves I have.” – Iskra Lawrence, JAG Models. (Fonte Refinery29).

The right direction

Is a way of tricks and deceptions the right direction for fashion? It is a path that leads to a lack of trust on all fronts: in the commitment to ecological issues, respect for workers, inclusion, diversity, and inevitably also in the product. The hope is in the brands that honestly take these issues to heart. Brands with a more truthful and inclusive vision of female beauty, diversifying body shapes on the catwalk and in the media. Brands that contribute to abandoning the ideal of perfection and making us embrace defects. Because there are brands that do it. To those we can turn our attention and our wallet.

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Photos: cover Jennifer Burk; Billie

Il lino, una delle fibre più sostenibili, é resistente, duraturo, naturale, fresco per l’estate e… caldo d’inverno (https://dress-ecode.com/2018/07/08/un-tessuto-ecologico-e-fresco-per-le-calde-giornate-il-lino/ )! Lo scopriamo con Marta Cernovskaja, fondatrice del brand Lemuel MC, testandolo per le vie di Notting Hill a Londra in una bella giornata fredda e ventosa. 

Marta ha sempre amato il lino. Quando per ragioni di salute ha interrotto il suo precedente lavoro come designer assistant e ha deciso di iniziare con un suo brand, non ha avuto dubbi su quale materiale utilizzare. Il lino è anche una fibra ottima per chi ha problemi di allergie e necessariamente deve evitare il contatto con sostanze sintetiche.

Prima di Londra, Marta viveva in Lituania, un paese in cui la produzione di lino è attualmente molto diffusa. È qui che da uno stesso fornitore nel tempo acquista metri di tessuto destinato altrimenti a non essere utilizzato. Lo porta con sé tornando dai suoi viaggi in Lituania.

Oltre a utilizzare eccedenze e rimanenze di tessuti, Marta lavora su ordinazione, non creando quindi invenduto da smaltire. Ogni piccolo pezzo di tessuto viene utilizzato. Marta ha adottato anche nella vita una filosofia zero waste e responsabile: “Ho sempre detestato i rifiuti. Non mi piace buttare via le cose, amo invece le cose fatte bene che puoi apprezzare”.

Vestiti, pantaloni, maglie, giacche, sciarpe, cravatte, camice, con linee morbide e comodi da indossare, per uomo e per donna di ogni taglia. Sono belli, eleganti, fatti a mano con cura, senza tempo. Richiedono particolari attenzioni? Può essere lavato facilmente con gli altri capi, non richiede speciali premure.  “Parte della bellezza del lino è che il lavaggio lo rende più morbido. Quando asciutto, pensiamo che le pieghe si aggiungano alla bellezza naturale unica del tessuto, ma possono essere stirate per un aspetto più raffinato”.

Il tessuto è certificato Oeko-Tex. Le etichette esterne sono realizzate, come gli abiti, a mano in lino. Marta sta pensando di realizzare in materiale naturale anche quelle interne. I bottoni sono in metallo. Il packaging è in carta velina o in carta da parati acquistata in charity shop.Le chiediamo quali sfide un brand sostenibile si trovi ad affrontare. “Non è difficile essere sostenibili, non riscontro particolari difficoltà nella produzione. Viviamo invece il problema di vedere sul mercato marchi che si dichiarano sostenibili, ma lo sono solo a parole. Il rischio é di perdere la fiducia dei consumatori, oltre a urtarci visto il nostro reale e sincero impegno”.

Incontriamo Marta da Daylesford (un negozio biologico) a Londra, davanti a un dolcetto e a una tazza di the (noi) e di caffè (lei), chiacchierando amabilmente di sostenibilità e delle nostre vite. Mi invita a testare i suoi abiti, mettendo alla prova una persona come me nelle temperature londinesi di questo periodo in una giornata di sole ma ventosa. Usciamo per le strade per scattare alcune foto. Il lino ha effettivamente diverse grammature e spessore, può essere fresco e leggero per l’estate ma più pesante e coprente per l’inverno. I colori più scuri lo adattano ancora di più alla stagione. “Non è solo per l’estate, non è solo per chi vive in campagna, il lino è per tutti, per ogni stagione e ragione”. 

Link al sito: https://www.lemuelmc.com

Più sotto, le foto.

English: Lemuel MC – Linen from January to December: we tried it on a cold London day!

Linen, one of the most sustainable fibres, is resistant, long-lasting, natural, fresh in summer and… warm in winter (https://dress-ecode.com/2018/07/08/un-tessuto-ecologico-e-fresco-per-le-calde-giornate-il-lino)! We discovered it with Marta Cernovskaja, founder of the brand Lemuel MC, testing it through the streets of Notting Hill in London on a beautiful but cold and windy day.

Marta has always loved linen. When for health reasons she interrupted her previous job as a designer assistant and decided to start with her own brand, she had no doubts about which material to use. Linen is also an excellent fibre for those with allergies and must necessarily avoid contact with synthetic substances.

Before coming to London, Marta lived in Lithuania, a country where linen production is currently widespread. It is there that from the same supplier over time she purchases meters of fabric, that would otherwise not be used. She brings them with her back from her trips in Lithuania.

In addition to using fabric off-cuts and surpluses, Marta works on made to order, thus not creating unsold to be disposed of. Every little piece of fabric is used and not wasted. Marta has also adopted a zero waste and responsible philosophy in her life: “I have always loathed waste. I do not like throwing things out but love well-made things you can cherish”.

Clothes, trousers, sweaters, jackets, scarves, ties, shirts, with soft lines and comfortable to wear, for men and women of all sizes. They are beautiful, elegant, hand made with care, timeless. Do they require special attention? They can be easily washed with other garments, not requiring any special care. “Part of the beauty of linen is that the washing makes it softer. When dry, we think that the wrinkles add to the unique natural beauty of the fabric, but they can be ironed for a more refined look”.

The fabric is Oeko-Tex certified and the tag labels are made, like clothes, by hand in linen. Marta is planning to make internal labels in natural materials as well. The buttons are made of metal. The packaging is in tissue paper or wallpaper purchased in the charity shop.

We ask her what challenges a sustainable brand is facing. “It is not difficult to be sustainable, I do not find particular challenges in production. Instead, we experience the problem of seeing brands that claim to be sustainable on the market, but they are only in words. The risk is to lose the trust of consumers, and it is niggling for who has a real and sincere commitment”.

We met Marta in Daylesford (an organic farm shop) in London, in front of a cake and a cup of tea (us) and coffee (her), chatting amiably about sustainability and our lives. She invites me to test her clothes, testing a person like me in the London temperatures of this period, on a sunny but windy day. We went out on the streets to take some pictures. The linen actually has different weights and thickness, it can be fresh and light for the summer but heavier and thicker for the winter. The darker colours adapt it even more to the season. “It’s not just for the summer, it’s not just for the people who live in the country, linen is for everyone, for every season and reason”.

Link to the site: https://www.lemuelmc.com