fashion therapy
Posted by Isobella Jade on February 16, 2010 01:28 PM
Is it just me, or are thighs suddenly in?
In the March issue of Elle Magazine, shoe retailer Nine West displayed a model sprawled in the ocean and the first thing I noticed, before even her shoes, were her thighs. A few pages over, Tommy Hilfiger’s model had some meat on her bones, and distinctive thighs. Hugo Boss featured a model holding a handbag – and she had some girth to her as well.
Rest assured, rib cages and concaved chests have not disappeared from the latest fashion ad campaigns. But today many fashion brands are willing to cast a model that has a more relatable – meaning bigger – body type to potential customers. And some models are even choosing to take their health over the opportunity to walk in a high profile fashion show or fit into sample sizes used in ad campaigns.
Model Coco Rocha, who has been the face of many ad campaigns and editorials in fashion magazines – but who also has not been hired by as many designers to walk in the shows recently – shared her thoughts on the fashion world accepting a less-gaunt looking model, “If I want a hamburger, I’m going to have one. No 21-year-old should be worrying about whether she fits a sample size."
The fantasy found in high fashion is becoming overshadowed by the reality that a fashion brand's image can be negatively affected by the too-skinny models they hire.
The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) has been debating model sizes and ages for many years and has watched the changes in the past ten years creep toward a sample size that strictly only fits a 33-inch hip.
Recently the CFDA held a panel to discuss the size standards in the industry and the message that “Beauty is Health."
Vogue’s fashion director, Tonne Goodman, believes from a magazine perspective that change will start when the sample size expands. David Bonnouvrier, from DNA Models, stated that representing a model who doesn’t fit the sample size is a benefit because bigger contracts for models comes from global brands that typically are not using models that fit the sample sizes anyways.
So, the next time you read a fashion magazine, count the thighs you see. It is obvious that select fashion brands and labels are using models with some meat, maintaining their faith that their brand will attract more mainstream consumers – despite the too-skinny model on the next page.
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