#Plus size runway show plus#

While many of the brands assessed by Vogue Business included mid-size looks at the lower end of the range, Christian Siriano stresses that plus-size representation can often speak to a much wider demographic than straight-size models can.

But, if you do have a huge range, you should be showing models of all sizes,” says Hayward. “Don’t put a plus-size model on the runway if you don’t have their size, that’s tokenism. But now she knows better: in her experience, the majority of larger mid-size or plus-size looks aren’t shown to buyers at the showroom, don’t go into production and can’t be featured in shoots. Jeanie Annan-Lewin, stylist and creative director of Perfect magazine, used to get excited when seeing a bigger body on the runway. It lends itself to different body shapes as the nature of it is to stretch and contour around the body,” he says. Mark Fast, who ranked fourth in London, has a similar approach, with a size system of A, B and C for his stretch garments. CFCL ranked number five for the top shows of PFW autumn/winter 2023 based on size inclusivity. This season’s collection will have only three sizes – 1, 3, and 5 – and the brand says it used its runway show in Paris to highlight how the clothes can be worn on different body types, ages and genders. “Taking advantage of the unique elasticity of knitwear, for example, dresses and skirts have the same width, and only the length differs by 10 to 12cm depending on the size,” the brand said over email. Working with materials such as knitwear is helping Tokyo-based label CFCL cater to various body types. We sometimes make looks ahead of time and then alter them to fit individuals, but generally it just takes a small effort and thought process beforehand to accommodate sizing on the runway.”

“It definitely varies depending on the season and the models. The brand included one plus-size look and 10 mid-size looks at its February show. New York brand Collina Strada takes a similar approach, says founder Hillary Taymour. “It was nice to be able to have someone really embody the look and not just go with whoever it fits.” This season, she wanted to focus on the tailored garments, which she can produce in size UK 6 to 30 (US 2 to 26), which require more alterations depending on the model. She then made their looks made-to-measure, including a three-piece suit in size 22. “The system of seasonal fashion and doing shows has not been created to have diverse people on the runway.” For autumn/winter 2023, she precast 12 of her models out of 21 in collaboration with casting director Emma Matell. “Last season we found it very difficult to do the casting process,” O’Dwyer says. While creating bigger size ranges comes naturally to emerging talents, casting plus-size models requires brands to think ahead of time, designers agree, as the quick turnaround nature of runway casting, typically done in the days running up to the show, doesn’t allow for the kind of alterations needed to adapt pieces to variations for bigger bodies.

Of the show, they say: “It wasn’t difficult at all, we worked with the same casting director since the start who understands what we’re looking for, and our garments fit any model we chose to have anyway, so there’s no sizing difficulties for us.” The main concept of our garments is to be one size and fit all body types,” the brand says, adding that certain products they are creating this season, such as trousers, will have dropped two sizes as it’s difficult to apply the “one-size fits all” model across all categories. “Having an inclusive casting has always been one of our ethos since the first collection. Inclusivity has always been a core part of Paris brand Ester Manas’s identity since it launched back in 2019.

#Plus size runway show plus#

Adapting all of that to curve and plus was a huge undertaking to be honest.” “AW23 was a huge achievement for us personally because it included tailoring, which is a completely different making process from jersey,” the designer says. Her show featured 75 per cent mid-size and 25 per cent plus-size models, wearing not just stretchy dresses but tailored separates and jackets. Vitto, who is from Brazil, is part of talent incubator Fashion East.