Download
'Fat-washing': is the fashion industry truly embracing curvier bodies?
CGTN
Research shows that more than 95 percent of outfits presented at fashion shows last season were in U.S. size 0-4. /Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters
Research shows that more than 95 percent of outfits presented at fashion shows last season were in U.S. size 0-4. /Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters

Research shows that more than 95 percent of outfits presented at fashion shows last season were in U.S. size 0-4. /Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters

Paris Fashion week draws to a close on Tuesday and despite claims that the industry is embracing curvier bodies, the data suggests it could be guilty of what one expert calls "fat-washing." While a handful of plus-size models such as Paloma Elsesser have attracted media attention in recent years, the figures shows they remain a tiny minority. 

Vogue Business looked at 9,137 outfits unveiled during 219 shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris last season and found that 0.6 percent were plus-size - defined as U.S. size 14 or above, the average size for a woman in the United States - and only 3.8 percent were size 6-12. That means 95.6 percent of outfits presented were in U.S. size 0-4.

READ MORE

60 million watched Zhang Zhilei fight

Türkiye raises interest rates to 30%

Tourists flock to Slovakia in search of budget summer holidays

Paolo Volonte, who teaches sociology of fashion in Milan, says brands use a few curvy models to deflect criticism. "It's 'fat-washing'," he said, comparing it to criticisms of cynical "green-washing" by which the industry is accused of making empty climate pledges.

"They use curvy models in their shows to show inclusivity but in fact this is to preserve and maintain a system based on the tyranny of the thin ideal," Volonte said.

Paloma Elsesser is one of the few plus-size models to become a household name. /Cindy Ord/MG22/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue/CFP
Paloma Elsesser is one of the few plus-size models to become a household name. /Cindy Ord/MG22/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue/CFP

Paloma Elsesser is one of the few plus-size models to become a household name. /Cindy Ord/MG22/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue/CFP

Ekaterina Ozhiganova, a 20-year-old model and law student, says luxury brands simply "refuse to represent normal people." Medium-sized women "are often told either to lose weight... or to push themselves up to XL," she said. "Neither is healthy." 

Ozhiganova's advocacy group, Model Law, carried out a survey that found nine out of 10 models felt pressure to change their bodies, more than half on a regular basis. "It's very hard for them to talk about," she said. "If you complain, everyone will just say: 'Darling, that's the job.'"

How it became "the job" is a question of history. Volonte says the obsession with thinness dates back to the birth of industrial production techniques. 

Previously, designers made clothes specific to individuals. In the mass production era, they use small templates which they scale up for larger sizes. This only works up to a certain size, however, after which fat and muscle can change the shape of bodies in more complex ways. 

Models present creations from the Giorgio Armani Spring/Summer 2024 collection at Milan Fashion Week. /Claudia Greco/Reuters
Models present creations from the Giorgio Armani Spring/Summer 2024 collection at Milan Fashion Week. /Claudia Greco/Reuters

Models present creations from the Giorgio Armani Spring/Summer 2024 collection at Milan Fashion Week. /Claudia Greco/Reuters

"It is much more expensive to produce and sell clothing on higher sizes and requires more expertise," said Volonte. At the same time, thinness became firmly associated with wealth – having the time and money to work on your body – an aspiration that has been deeply entrenched by advertising and the day-to-day practices of the fashion industry.

There have been efforts to change things since the early 2000s when fears spread that size-zero models were encouraging anorexia in young people. Since 2017, France requires models to pass medical examinations, while the country's two biggest luxury conglomerates, LVMH and Kering, signed charters vowing to stop using size-zero models.

But with sizes varying from one brand to the next, this is hard to enforce. Designers are as trapped in the status quo as everyone else. 

Elite couturier Mohammad Ashi says discrimination based on race and gender has been fairly well tackled in fashion, but shape is tricky. "We're not trying to avoid it, but from an industrial point of view, we can't produce a plus-size dress. We sell what we show and I know our clients personally. It's just business," he said. 

Couturier Julien Fournie has used pregnant models and his favorite model, Michaela Tomanova, has "six centimeters everywhere more than the others." But he says, "fashion remains fashion... It's a fantasy world and that will never change fundamentally."

'Fat-washing': is the fashion industry truly embracing curvier bodies?

Subscribe to Storyboard: A weekly newsletter bringing you the best of CGTN every Friday

Source(s): AFP

Search Trends