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| Ashley Graham's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition Cover Graham is showing the world that it's okay to be outside the industry's standards, because beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. image via: http://bit.ly/212HKER |
The ever-evolving world of fashion
has seen many changes throughout the years.
From what started as an industry that was ruled by the beautiful, small
and curve-less, has been slowly transformed to a place where women and men of
all body types can find a job. This change has been a slow one though, and
there have been many struggles to get different body types into the ads of top
designers. As mainstream media has
gotten more involved with the idea of body issues, the modeling industry has
had to adapt to new thoughts and put out a change on their typical sample
sizes.
The most recent
issue of Sports Illustrated came out this past month and with it came three
covers that were unlike the covers that Sport Illustrated normal put out.
The first cover featured Ashley Graham, a plus size model who has taken the
industry by storm. When Graham first learned about the cover, she said,
“I thought Sports Illustrated was taking a risk by putting a
girl my size in the pages, but putting me on the cover? They aren’t just
breaking barriers; they are the standard now. This is beyond epic,” (Bakkila,
2016). Graham is the first plus size model to be featured on a major
magazine’s cover and she has created a conversation around what traditional
beauty means in the modeling industry. Ashley was not the first of
her kind though, as many plus size models have attempted to break into the
industry through other avenues.
Jag Models, a New
York based modeling agency, boasts for being one of the first plus size
modeling agencies of its kind. Their roaster includes well-known models Amber
Tolliver, Iskra Lawrence and Georgina Burke. These models has been seen in
H&M, America Eagle and other top advertisements and have been involved in
changing the industry. Jag Models “is an agency catering to women of all
sizes,” (Jagmodels.com). With the rise of agencies coming into the industry,
curvy models have been given a chance to book jobs that they normally would
never dream of.
Recently, IMG
Models, one of the world’s largest modeling agencies, followed in the footsteps
of Jag and created a plus size men’s division within the agency. Zach Miko is now the “world’s first plus-size
male model,” has gotten tons of press lately for joining IMG’s brawn
models. It’s very interesting that IMG
chose to use the word “brawn” instead of “plus-size” which I think does a great
job of taking away a word that does not belong in the modeling industry. In an article written for GQ.com, Ivan Bart,
IMG’s CEO said, “The body positive messaging and size diversity is something
that’s relevant and something that continues to be on everybody’s mind. We have
to extend the conversation for men,” (Mauoi, 2016). It is great that this
conversation about body types in the industry has extended to women and men and
that people seem to be serious about making a change.
Dani Braun, a
local Utah model had moved to New York City in 2013 with the hopes of modeling
in the Big Apple. Braun was fasted with
a quick realization that this industry was not what she expected. “I have been
modeling for over six years in Utah and the surrounding states and have never
been told that I’m too fat or that I don’t fit a company’s image, but after
being signed by a boutique agency in New York, I felt like that was all I
heard.” Braun goes on to tell me about
the time her agent told her she had to lose three inches off her hips in order
to attend a casting. “It was devastating. I had moved to a new state and didn’t
know anyone and was constantly being told that I wasn’t good enough. It made me hate what I had moved there to do.” Dani has since moved back to Utah and works
regularly here, where the industry does not keep up with big market standards.
I actually lived in New York for two years and while I was
there, I worked in the fashion industry in menswear. I was in charge of casting models for our
photo shoots, whether they were for e-commerce, ad campaigns or smaller social
shoots. I had to set up casting calls
and with them came the stereotyping of bodies. The great thing about the
company I worked for was that the typical male model was not what the designer
wanted. He wanted someone who was
relatable, fit (but not too fit) and who had boy next-door charms. During
castings, I would take polaroid’s of the models, their measurements and ask
them about their experience. It was an
eye opening few years and I learned a great deal about what it takes to succeed
in that industry.
A good friend of
mine, Alice Magill, moved to the United States in 2009 to work in the ski
industry while taking a break from school.
This girl is beautiful, at 5’10’’, 110 pounds; Magill was a walking,
talking runway model. She has unique features and could have been gracing the
cover of every magazine. I encouraged her to reach out to modeling agencies and
see if it was something she was interested in. Little did she know that New
York agencies would come knocking on her door.
In 2011, Alice
flew to New York City to get her first taste at the modeling industry. Many high profile agencies, including Elite,
IMG and Next, wanted to see her so she hopped on a plane to see what would
happen. While she was there, she was
given the opportunity to sign with Elite, but turned it down. “They told me I
was great, but then asked me to lose five pounds. It was crazy.
I wasn’t going to turn down fries and a burger just to maybe appear in
the pages of a magazine. It wasn’t worth
it to me and I’m happy I turned down the contract.” It amazes me that only a few years ago the
industry wasn’t going to budge from the standard sizes that grace the runway,
but now, in 2016, the industry is finally making headway.
With the rise of
Gigi Hidad, Kylie Jenner and other influential social figures, the modeling
industry has been able to take on what they would say is beauty and their new
standard. Yes, these girls might not be a size 16 but they are still breaking
the standards by being involved in fashion. Hidad is known for being curvy and
for being the model who isn’t afraid to stand out. She loves her body and isn’t afraid to let
others know that the sample size world needs to be gotten rid of.
In November of
2014, Calvin Klein revealed a lingerie campaign featuring size 10 model, Myla
Dalbesio and after the release, media sparked controversy about the use of the
term “plus-size.” Dalbesio appeared on
multiple talk shows to discuss the campaign and the controversy about her
appearing alongside the likes of Lara Stone and Jourdan Dunn, who are both
“sample size” models. “I think that
Calvin Klein has done something that's really groundbreaking, which is they
released this campaign with what some would say is a normal-size model, a size
10. And size-10 girls, there's not a lot of spots for us to fit in in the
fashion industry,” (Hyland, 2014). With so many well-known companies breaking
the mold, the modeling industry is being given a change to redefine what it
means to belong in this crazy industry.
There is always another
side to every story, and for this piece it’s that of the designers. A lot of the reasons behind the industry take
awhile to catch up with other industries is because of designers needs. It is a lot easier to create a full run of
your collection in the smallest size, as it saves money, time and effort. Plus it usually showcases the pieces the best
when they are on a hanger.
An article written by
Connie Wang of Refinery29.com covered the pros and cons of creating clothing
for the plus size or should we say, average size woman. "When you're designing for straight sizes, you're basically
designing for rectangles, and that's easy," says designer Trudy Hanson.
"You don't really have to contend with the fact that you're taking a
two-dimensional item, like fabric, and putting it on a three-dimension thing,
like a human body. If you think about a hanger in a store, it just displays the
item like a rectangle. Plus sizes are not like that at all. If you make a flat
front and back for plus sizes, you get a shirt that has horrible dragging lines
around the armpits. On top of that, garment production is a really expensive
business, so minimizing any waste is hugely important. There's just more
stuff going on, like darts, seams, and shaping, not to mention more fabric, and
each extra part costs more money to produce,” (Wang, 2016). This is not something
the average consumer is thinking about when they don’t see plus sizes in every
story. There is a cost behind
everything, and like Hanson said, the small material you are using, the more
something is going to cost. It is common
sense.
It can happen though; there can
be change. Designers can look at the
plus size industry as a way to expand their creative work and to try new
things. At least it might not seem like
something they should be doing, but in reality, the average size American woman
is a size 14, and most stores don’t carry beyond a size 12. As soon as you start to see the people making
the clothing shift to different sizing, the industry will start to see an even
bigger change. More models will be
allowed into the secret society of modeling and more diverse body types will
grace runways and glossy magazine pages.
Just look at how far some large companies have come in the last few
years. It can happen and it should.
You hear people talk about
models and usually the subject matter is not a very positive one. People target the modeling industry and the
advertisements constantly seen in media.
No matter where you turn you have young women and men talking about
these normal people in such a negative light.
The industry is not going to change overnight, but slowly it will evolve
into whatever it decides to become. It
might never get rid of the sample sizes that you see on display in showrooms,
but the world might get to be more exposed to the Ashley Grahams and that would
mean it is getting better.
Additional Information:
- Ashley Graham; her personal website where she talks about body image and how to handle the pressure of this industry
- 12 Plus Sized Models Who've Made History; learn about the models who are making a difference in this industry
- 5 Plus Size Models who are Changing the Way We Look at Beauty
- Ashley Graham; her personal website where she talks about body image and how to handle the pressure of this industry
- 12 Plus Sized Models Who've Made History; learn about the models who are making a difference in this industry
- 5 Plus Size Models who are Changing the Way We Look at Beauty
Sources:
Bakkila,
B. (2016, February 13). Ashley Graham Makes History as the First Size-16 Model
to Cover Sports Illustrated: 'This Is Going to Change My Life Forever'
Retrieved March 21, 2016, from http://stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com/2016/02/13/ashley-graham-sports-illustrated-cover-2016/
Mauoi, Z. (2016,March 21). Zach Miko is the world's first
plus-size male model. Retrieved March 21, 2016, from http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/plus-size-male-model-zach-miko
http://www.nymag.com/thecut/2014/11/controversial-calvin-klein-model-speaks-out.html?mid=huffpostyle
http://www.refinery29.com/plus-size-problems#slide
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