Vice Magazine recently launched a new series entitled Fashion Internationale, documenting the fashion shows and catwalks away from the limelights of the 'biggies', namely London, Paris, Milan and New York. The newest installment is set in New York at the Full Figured Fashion Week, meeting people who believe that 'bigger is better'. Charlet Duboc explores the shopping options available at the 'Curves in the City Sample Sale' and meet the women who live by the motto 'wear your curves, love your curves and show your curves'.
Both parts are now online and can be watched at http://www.vice.com/en_uk/fashion-week-internationale/full-figured-part-1
With plus-sized icons in both fashion and music at the moment, these videos are set to add to a whirlwind of media about whether bigger is better in fashion, or just as unhealthy as promoting size zero. There have been much heated debate with the fashion industry, with designers going to extremes promoting 'plus size'. While designers have noted that promoting a healthier 'normal' size to the public is definitely a wise marketing move, there is still a fine line between hypocrisy at not using unhealthy models, and using bigger girls just to create a storm.
I for one applaud these gorgeous women. I truly believe that both fashion and beauty can be a double edged sword, and while at the moment plus sizes are on the rise, I'm just wondering for how long. I believe in promoting a healthy body image in magazines and fashion, and using women of every size is the way to go for this, but in the right market. As a size 14/16 myself, I love it when magazines and websites use models who are actually my size when they're explaining how to wear this season's trends, rather than using a size 10/12 and labelling her plus size just because she has big boobs and hips. However, I am very aware that some of the clothing brands that they use simply don't stock plus sizes, which is a shame but a reality.
I'm also very impressed at the rise of plus sized clothing boutiques and magazines, making it accessible for plus sized women to wear on trend clothing made specifically for them! Sometimes it's just not feasible to wear certain items of clothing from certain brands, however, that isn't to say that a plus sized girl can't take the aspects of this trend and create something all her own!
Whatever your view on plus sized models may be, these videos make for a very interesting watch!