Curvy Girl Meets Fashion World
Flipping through the stills of the designer fashions at New York Fashion Week, I had become attuned to simply clicking to the next garment one after the next when I suddenly found myself stuck. I had reached the designer Christian Siriano’s Spring 2017 Ready-to-wear collection and came across a full-figured, curvy woman slaying in a bright turquoise fitted ankle length dress. My shock began to dissipate as I continued flipping through the stills in his collection. I considered the one instance of a plus size model to be simply just that, one instance. He couldn’t have possibly included more. Yet, once again I was taken aback by the emergence of another model who was curvy and killing it. She wore a two piece black ensemble that I simply adored. I couldn’t help but to wonder why I liked the piece so much. Was it simply because the model was closer to my size and for once I saw a high-end fashion piece walking down the runway that I could actually wear?
The point is that I shouldn’t have been shocked to see the five plus size models that walked in Christian Siriano’s runway show. It should be a norm to have representation of all body types on the runway from 0 to 24. Curvy women want to be fashionable too, not just wear what fits them well because the truth is, it all can.
The ideal body type has changed frequently throughout centuries dating back as far as 1200 B.C. In observing this size fluctuating timeline, it is noticeable that the curvy woman has made her appearance more than just a few times. An article by Buzzfeed displays these particular dates of plus size popularity that include Ancient Greece (500 - 300 B.C.), the Italian Renaissance (1400-1700), Victorian England (1837 - 1901), and The Golden Age of Hollywood (1930’s -1950’s). A shift is taking place now in the 21st century that may be leaning again towards making the curvy/plus-size body type something to be desired.
There are already some stores dedicated to the selling of garments for plus-size women such as Lane Bryant and Torrid and this is fantastic, but where is the high-end fashion. The place that is looked to in order to discover the next up and coming trends is the runway, especially during fashion week. Out of the tons of designers that showed throughout New York, London, Milan, and Paris Fashion Week only about 10 designers managed to have plus size/curvy models walk down their runway. Considering how many women in the United States are considered to be plus size (65%), it’s shocking to see such a lack of representation on the New York Fashion week runway.
“Even in my office not everyone is a size 0. What do you do if you’re a designer, and your own team can’t wear your clothes?” Designer Christian Siriano makes this point during an interview with Glamour magazine. Siriano has made headlines in the past for taking on clients that have been denied by other stylists and designers whether it be because of their weight or other reasons that might actually force a designer to do more than their usual work. Siriano’s awareness that the inclusion of all sizes should be included on the fashion runway is refreshing. Yes, there have been other designers to incorporate plus size models in their shows, but the way in which Siriano made sure to put them in clothes that did not only look good on them, but were fashionable as well is what made all the difference.
The curvy shape isn’t just a trend. It is a body shape that many women have and will continue to have in the future. Not all curvy women are shaped the same. This is why it is important to have size diversity on the runway. To not only depict one example of a larger woman, but of the different glorious shapes that women in a size 12 and above can possess as well.
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