Does plus-size modelling have a tokenism problem?
This piece was originally written in April 2022.
DISCLAIMER: PHOTOS ARE FOR VISUAL AID ONLY, NO BRANDS/PUBLICATIONS PICTURED HERE ARE BEING ACCUSED AND HAVE NOT BEEN NAMED BY INTERVIEWEES.
Diversity in fashion has progressed since the era of heroin chic and the reign of the Slavic model. However, despite appearances, there is much left to be desired in the treatment of plus-size models. Anastasia Vartanian speaks to models across runway, editorial and commercial to get their stories.
As a teenager in the mid 2010s, I adored Barbie Ferreira and Diana Veras. Rising to fame on Tumblr, they were the first “plus-size” models I had seen. (Though they were completely average-sized, which in the UK is a 16.) High fashion has taken a while to catch up, but today models like Paloma Elsesser and Precious Lee walk for Versace and Fendi and cover Vogue. Considering the restricted doors of runway in particular, steps have clearly been made. But how much has really changed, in an industry that relies so much on the snapshot, highly edited, choreographed, shot for perfection, a 20-minute runway presentation, cast to tick all the boxes, to portray a certain image into the world without divulging what goes on behind the scenes?
Sometimes tokenism isn’t obvious, which can cause insecurity, not knowing whether you are chosen for you or your body. “You could argue my entire career is tokenism,” said Veronica Campos. Nuance is needed when approaching this topic, as there is a danger of undermining achievements of plus-size models in the process. Other times, however, it is apparent. Such as when Kelsey Loren was paid for a full day on-set, but upon seeing the photos, realised she was “Out of focus in the background.” Or when Siena Lyn Rasmussen was referred to as “plus girl” and “the bigger model” by the client, never being called by her name unlike the straight-size model she was working with. “They even pulled me out of group shots, telling me to my face ‘you looked massive, making the normal-sized model look way too small.’” Another model, Venice Hakeem, found out through conversations on-set that she was being paid “a third” of what the petite models were, while shooting a campaign for a big e-commerce brand.
Brands may cast bigger bodies to portray diversity (and profit from an audience who expects it), without laying the groundwork first to have clothes that fit them – whether that’s instore or at all. Campos – a size 20/22 – told me, “There's clients that I've worked for that I can't shop in their store. I can only order online. That's happened plenty of times.” Josefine Jensen told me of a time she was cast for a runway, for a brand whose clothes only go up to size 14, while she herself was a size 18. The outfits she wore were a “tight dress in a stretchy material” and a “show piece they had specifically made for me, that would not be put into production.”
“It’s hard for me to draw the line between general modelling dehumanisation and body-specific modelling dehumanisation,” Vineeta Seshasai Maruri tells me. The industry is cut-throat, there’s no arguing that. But in the same way that models of colour have spoken out about having to do their own hair and make-up, many plus-size models often have to double as their own stylist. Without the extra fee, of course. “I've definitely looked at my fair share of racks and picked out clothes and just thought to myself, I'm not getting paid enough to do this,” continues Seshasai. Bringing their own wardrobe to set is a very common occurrence too.
As James Corbin explained, “There’s a lot of ‘Let’s make this work,’ conversations going on on-set.” Isabelle Cohen told me of a campaign she did once where they didn’t have jeans in the right size. The solution? “They had to cut up the jeans in the back for me to be able to fit in them. It was humiliating, because all the other models fit in their jeans.” Editorials can get creative with how to sidestep the issue of clothes not fitting, since they have artistic leeway. Whether that’s draping the model in a sheet classical goddess style. Or a comforter. Or wearing a coat backwards, holding it above your head, or wearing it open with nothing underneath. “They want to use all these cute, fun ways to make it look like we can wear this designer piece. But it doesn't fit. It’s not our size,” said Veronica Campos.
Anna Schlaifer recounted how she had to model topless as there were no tops in her size on-set. “It was clearly not an artistic choice as it was a clothing brand and all the other models were clothed. I was the only plus-size model.” This highlights another common problem: being asked to model nude or in underwear without prior notice due to a lack of sizing. Campos told me, “I've been asked to shoot nude on the drop of a hat so many times. It's really wild what they expect a person to just be comfortable with on a moment's notice.” maya finoh seconds this, adding: “I didn't realize until recently that thin models don't experience this to the same extent.”
Odile Gautreau revealed another common problem: “Sometimes they will have all your measurements, and they still can’t manage to find clothing that fits you.” Although this isn’t always ill-intentioned but sometimes a result of fashion’s limited sizing, it does beg the question: why does fashion want to use bigger bodies when they don’t have the sizing to allow for it? “They want to make money off us, but they don’t want to spend it,” said Travis Williams. Expanding your size range requires more work: more fittings, more flexibility with changing patterns and cut, taking into account different parameters of the body. Which explains why some people are taking short-cuts.
People expect more from brands, and “especially in our day and age of social media, everything is so performative. And brands think a quick fix would be visually casting someone that's different and that's like a band-aid,” Campos goes on. “They take that plus-size model and shove her in a stretchy XL dress. This is actually why I’m really excited to start fit modelling, because this is actually the nitty gritty of expanding the size charts.” Fit modelling involves modelling for brands so that they can get realistic measurements for their clothes. Creating plus-size clothes is not as simple as adding a few inches here or there – the proportions are different and ignoring that results in ill-fitting clothes. Using real bodies is a tangible solution to fashion’s sizing problem. Of course, not all plus-size bodies are the same, but it’s a start.
There has been some improvement, according to Andrea Boutin. She told me how, when she first began in the European industry 8 years ago, the only gigs she got were very much “ugly”, frumpy clothes. Slowly, clothing options for plus-size bodies have increased, but there is still much left to be desired. There are some designers for whom catering to bigger bodies is not an afterthought, but a part of their identity, such as Ester Manas and Central Saint Martins graduate Ed Mendoza, but they are the minority. No matter how many plus-size bodies appear in campaigns, editorials and on runways, if bigger people still struggle to buy clothes besides fast fashion, the work is not done.
Moreover, fashion still often has an idealised or accepted version of what a plus-size body should look like. Never was this more apparent than when Karoline Bjørnelykke exposed practices of “in-between” models being asked to wear padding to appear bigger. Her Tik Tok went viral in November last year, explaining that the client wanted the look of a plus-size model but with a thin face and neck, opting for Bjørnelykke’s size 12 frame. Isabelle Cohen also spoke of how, early on in her career, around 2017, she was encouraged by her agency (who she is no longer with) to use padding. “They told me: ‘You're too small for plus-size, but you're too big for normal modelling.’” She was a size 12/14 at the time. Neither model does this anymore, but it reveals prevailing beauty standards in the industry. Bigger models may still be expected to have a sculpted face, hourglass figure, flat stomach, big bum, not too big a chest and smaller arms.
Models outside of fashion’s outdated straight-size come in a variety of sizes and shapes, but maya finoh says that, as a size 28, “For me, the discrimination starts at the beginning with receiving fewer bookings than my peers.” Despite doors being opened, fashion still has a preference for plus-size models below a certain size. In a Dazed interview with model Paloma Elsesser, author Ericka Hart made the point that “the fashion industry latches onto the most palatable body to make its point in terms of diversity and silence critique.” Though progress has been made, it is still by and large within the realm of what fashion deems acceptable. This is apparent on the mainstream high fashion runways, where models rarely go above a size 16.
Some models also spoke of being put in a box as the “approachable” or “relatable” one. Kelsey Loren mentioned that oftentimes, plus-size models are not allowed to be as multi-faceted as straight-size models. That is, they often aren’t supposed to be edgy, but “cute” and “friendly”. Loren said how she is mostly directed to be very smiley in shoots. On a similar note, Campos spoke of laziness on-set when it comes to bigger models. Seen as the “realistic one”, crew often doesn’t put as much effort into her hair and make-up, “But everybody else would be so done up.” Soouizz Okeke reinforces this idea of bigger models often being relegated to the role of the relatable one. “I feel like when you’re a bigger model, they always want us to go for a more “natural” look or an “everyday guy” look. No real effort as far as something fierce, something different.” Which is why it is so refreshing to see bigger bodies in editorials and artistic fashion imagery.
Interestingly, James Corbin doesn’t really think about whether his image is being tokenised. “Regardless of if somebody is trying to tokenise my image, I know my image needs to be here. And because I know my intentions, if you crack the door open a bit, I'm going to push it open for many other people to walk behind me.” Even if the thinking behind the casting is more cynical than celebratory, the result for the people viewing the image is the same. Penelope Soto – who entered the industry in 2016 – proves the positive influence of representation, saying, “Modelling was never something I considered doing, until coming across models like Barbie Ferreira, Ashley Graham and Diana Veras on Instagram.” Pragmatically, Corbin adds: “There aren’t even bigger bodies behind the camera, first of all. Let alone in front of the camera. So it's like, how else is it going to happen?”
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