We have said it so many times, that if we had a dime for every time plus size made the news we would surely be sipping Pina Colada’s on a beach right now and not sat here, warrioring behind our desks! But this week the term plus size was once again muddied by a brand quite frankly not knowing what they’re doing.
This is the case of gorgeous blonde Anna modelling for Boohoo. Now Anna is on a curve board at her agency and despite what lots of people think within the realm of the fashion and modelling world, Anna – as crazy as this sounds is – at a size 12- ‘plus size’. Yes, not in the real everyday world where we seem to know what’s what, but in fashion land, a 12 is plus size. BUT that still doesn’t mean that having her modelling on Boohoo Plus is right and here is why…
Now historically, brands always choose the smallest size in their range for their model. So subsequently the girls in a Topshop campaign or River Island campaign are a size 6-8 as that is the smallest of their sizes. There are lots of retailers who do ‘plus’ who start from a 12 – so while it’s annoying – they can quite easily shrug and justify using a size 12 girl.
(we aren’t even gonna get into padding out models today – that is a whole different post)
But, Boohoo, is NOT one of those brands. The line starts at a size 16 – therefore their choice of model should too. And if you’re size 12 model is fitting the ‘sample’ you’ve made then there are only 2 explanations…
- You’re making size 12 samples. Or…
- If it’s a size 16, fitting a size 12 perfectly, you have your sizing all wrong.
No one is saying Anna shouldn’t model and at the end of the day, it isn’t her fault, she is a working model and she needs to work – we wouldn’t expect her to turn down a job but we do think that brands really need to get real and starting taking responsibility for their actions. If your line starts at a 16, there is no excuse for not using a size 16 model.
You wouldn’t show a collection that stopped at a 14 on a size 18 model because the size in that piece simply doesn’t exist to purchase, this is no different, the collection is made for women size 16 plus, so don’t show it to consumers on anything less.
The end.