beauty

Vogue editor says fashion designers still won’t dress models larger than a size zero.

In January’s edition of British Vogue, famous curve model Ashley Graham is front and centre, in a move to give consumers a “broader definition of physical beauty”.

And in her editor’s letter within the issue, editor-in-chief Alexandra Shulman called out famous fashion houses for failing to recognise what consumers want the most – diversity – by refusing to dress models that don’t fit into a typical sample size zero.

Alexandra acknowledge that it was impossible to ignore the conversation when she had put a woman who is a “cheerleader for the fuller-figured woman” on the front cover of the issue.

“The question of size in the fashion industry is one that boils up continuously and furiously without ever reaching any kind of satisfactory conclusion,” she wrote.

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She then revealed that she and her crew had struggled to source clothes for Graham’s shoot that were outside the normal sample size.

“We are all very grateful to the people at Coach who…moved speedily to provide clothes for us that had to come from outside their sample range,” she said.

“They were enthusiastic about dressing a woman who is not a standard model, but sadly there were other houses that flatly refused to lend us their clothes.

“It seems strange to me that while the rest of the world is desperate for fashion to embrace broader definitions of physical beauty, some of our most famous fashion brands appear to be travelling in the opposite – and, in my opinion, unwise – direction.”

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In late October, the model herself called upon high-fashion houses to create clothes for an extended range of sizes.

“What I really want to see…is for designers to make their high-end lines go up in extended sizes, because I wanna buy it!” she told Racked.

Considering the 28-year-old model just got herself her very own Barbie (one of the most influential toys in history) just two weeks ago, here’s hoping the designers sit up and listen.