We have never tried to hide the fact that we use photoshop. Even as a plus size bias magazine we want to get the shots looking smoking hot. We are currently using less and less as the magazines develop but we still do a bit of skin touch up etc. Even with great lighting etc sometimes we just need a bit of help getting that perfect shot. However the one thing we never do is alter our models shapes. We don’t make our plus size models smaller or bigger (as some catalogues do) we love them just the size they are after all, we choose to do plus size and shoot plus size girls for a reason! However its fairly obvious that most magazines and many advertising shots are heavily altered. Take this Ralph Lauren shot for example:
It’s fairly obvious that this girl has been shrunk beyond all sensible proportions, but WHY, do brands really think we are that stupid? I’d also like to meet the people that think this image looks good, after all think about the number of marketing, brand directors and art directors that saw this shot without anyone saying “Hold up, this doesn’t look remotely possible”.
As someone that works with a lot of straight sized models as well as plus size models, the trend for samples getting smaller and smaller and imagery such as the Ralph Lauren shot above is unbelievably dangerous to not just girls looking at these images but the models themselves. My heart sinks every time a tiny model cant get into the samples, I can only imagine the damage it causes when even the most slender girls are made to feel that having hip bones is now considered totally unfashionable.
But it isn’t just Ralph that has been up to no good and getting happy with photoshop. Vera Wang was highlighted today in the Daily Mail for this shot of her new campaign model, again, the model has been photo shopped to levels of impossible slenderness.
When we start to think that even models are too big to represent the designer brands we really are in a dangerous place. It’s about time those in marketing take some responsibility, we may not be getting plus size girls in campaigns yet but surely straight size models should not be made smaller. What do you think?