There has been much demand recently from the plus size community for more diversity in the fashion industry. A call for changes in the way women are represented on the runway and in the media has been made. Women feel that by not incorporating plus size models in fashion shows and photo shoots, they are being excluded from the fantasy and therefore reserving fashion for the straight sized elite.

Women want to see other women like themselves wearing beautiful and cutting edge clothes on the runway and in the press. In this way they can imagine themselves wearing the latest designer creations and feel part of the fashion Zeitgeist.

Designer fashion shows can cost hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars for top names. Unfortunately for women, the logistics of such a task are unrealistic and impossible to achieve when businesses are spending vast sums to display their creations.

‘The average dress size in the fashion industry is size 10.’

Size 10 is the fashion standard. Anything above that or below that is not average or median. The UK national average female dress size at 16 does not mean that most women are of average size. It means most women in the UK are far above the average dress size of 10.

Size 10 is the median size for women. Designer lines range in size (on average) from size 2-4 being the smallest and 16-18 being the largest. Size 10 lays exactly in the middle. Any size below size 2 is considered petite and anything above size 18 is considered specialist.

We use model size 10 because it represents the average size in the middle of the sizing range. These are the measurements we use:

Chest: 86 cmWaist: 61 cm

Hips: 89 cm

Height: 177 cm

Weight: 55 kg

These measurements or their proportional equivalent are not difficult to achieve. These measurements belong to Linda Evangelista.

‘Plus size women are too challenging to dress quickly for the runway.’

It is relatively simple to find a group of tall, average sized women who all have basically the same measurements. Women with these measurements need no foundation garments and will fit into almost any sample size with no need for fitting.

Plus and specialist size women are challenging to fit. This season’s finale of Project Runway illustrates precisely the problems with fitting plus size models. For the plus size collection, the designer was very pleased that she had completed every garment and they were ready to show. Every piece was ill fitting and needed major alterations before going on the runway when model fitted. And even still, nothing fit properly on the runway. From skirts lifting way high in the back (huge butts cause this), to gaping midriff and ill fitting busts, everything looked cheap. With the other collections shown, all the models fit all the clothes well with few alterations and the garments looked luxe for that reason. The fashion runway is there to show a collection at its best. Fit is paramount. Fat is too difficult to fit clothing around easily.

Which of the two groups of women below would you imagine to be the easiest to fit backstage into one of a kind designer dresses in a matter of minutes, with the least preparatiand fuss fuss?

All the women in the top photograph are the same size and height as model size 10 and all share similar looks for shoot continuity. Ten style looks in size 10 for a photo shoot will fit any of them. Financially viable and time effective for the huge expense of runway shows and fashion shoots.

The women in the bottom photo range in size from 6 petite – 28 Tall and visually have nothing in common. The entire sample range would need to be produced in all sizes at huge expense. The photo shoot would require at least thirty outfits (3 each) to accommodate for fit. ‘Tall women provide more display area than shorter women.’ The average woman’s height in the UK is 161.5cm. The average supermodel is 180cm tall. This gives the designer an extra 20cm (approx) of length to allow details to be seen clearly on the runway by press and buyers. It is for this reason that Kate Moss has made an amazing model for print, but not an ideal model for the runway We can now easily understand why ‘The Perfect Body’ for fashion is the supermodel, and not the everyday woman. ‘Huge cost of sampling more than one size.’ The simplest of garments can cost upwards of £1,000 to sample for show and production. An article of clothing needs to be designed, pattern drafted, cut in calico, sewn, fit, re-cut in cloth, re-sewn, fit, finished and pressed. It would not be reasonable or economically viable to request any designer to produce more than one sample size per article. ‘Plus size clothing require more engineering and materials, which costs money. ‘ Retailers Marks and Spencer incurred public wrath in 2009 when they placed a £2 surcharge on bras above size DD. They remained steadfast with their decision. The fashion industry can not be held to blame for the modern obesity epidemic. If clothing requires more structure and support for the increasing bust size of the female population, these costs must be met by the consumer using the goods. A size 4 dress requires approximately 2.15m of fabric whereas a size 28 dress takes 3.75m of fabric to produce the same garment. It takes longer to cut out larger patten pieces. It is more time-consuming to work with very large pieces of cloth to sew together. It requires more engineering and structural support to breasts poisoned in an attractive position. When the plus size population was much smaller than the straight sized population, the cost could be offset to keep prices the same for small and plus size. Now that the plus size population greatly outstrips the straight size population, the great increase in cost can no longer be subsidised by the straight sized population. Garments now need to be priced accordingly so as to keep the value of each garment on par with the material costs to produce it. ‘Huge cost of sampling more than one size.’ The simplest of garments can cost upwards of £1,000 to sample for show and production. An article of clothing needs to be designed, pattern drafted, cut in calico, sewn, fit, re-cut in cloth, re-sewn, fit, finished and pressed. It would not be reasonable or economically viable to request any designer to produce more than one sample size per article. ‘There needs to be more diversity on the runway.’ Designer catwalk shows are for buyers, not the public. Fashion shows for the public are done in malls hosted by clothing shops. At designer showtime, there is only one of each dress in existence in model size ten. Orders are taken from buyers in the various sizes needed. Mall fashion shows for the same garments happens 6-8 months later when the different sizes ordered arrive in store. For these types of fashion shows, diversity is easy to display because they have the range of sizes to accommodate plus and specialist sized models in the fashion show. Designer fashion shows are for the exceptionally beautiful. Mall fashion shows are for plus size models and everyday woman who would like to be models. ‘Disability and fashion?’ A celebrity friend of mine who is disabled made a point years back when her disabled friends were being recruited for the Alexander McQueen show, where he carved prosthetic limbs for the models to wear. It was all very theatre, but also very sensationalistic. My friend explained to me that they were not using disability for inclusion in fashion. They used disability to draw attention to the designer that they would not normally receive. For what reason would a designer include women with downs syndrome on a fashion runway? As part of a charity event? Are they the customer demographic? Do they add to the luxury of the brand? Are they on par with the standard of beauty on the runway so as to fit in seamlessly and cohesively rather than stand out? Does the gesture of inclusion feel genuine? Is the detraction to the show compensated by the feel good factor and increased visibility felt by a tiny demographic? Should political correctness and gestures of good will to the less fortunate be the reason to re-evaluate what the notion of beautiful is? ‘Racial inclusion on the runway.’ Non white countries generally use racially relevant models in their fashion. Requesting that the caucasian fashion culture be more inclusive is unreasonable and offensive. One look on Google for the fashion weeks of Kenya, China, Japan, India, Brazil, New York, London and Sweden will illustrate the imbalance of using diverse models globally. The caucasian countries have been shown to use more models of racial diversity than their national average of non caucasian inhabitants. The shows in non caucasian countries are not under the same scrutiny for racial inclusion. This trend of accusations of racism against almost all major caucasian designers is unjust and uncalled for. Statistics show caucasian Fashion is being more than inclisusive as it is. At London Fashion Week 2015 79.4% of the models on the runway were caucasian. Yet 82% of the UK population is Caucasian. There is no need to have a disproportion of ethnic models that does not reflect the population capita figure. ‘The concept of beauty.’ Recently model Rain Dove commented on the modern ideals of beauty. She said ‘”Every year I see Victoria Secrets promote their show as featuring the ‘most beautiful women in the world’,” she said. She then photo shopped images to illustrate her point. “During my career path I’ve experienced first hand what people deem as beautiful. It’s not me. It’s not most people. It’s limited and small. It needs to change.’ The concept of beauty is not limited and small. There is no need for change. Beauty is rare. Every woman has the right to ‘feel beautiful’. Not all women are ‘beautiful’. We can not change the meaning of a word for for reason of vanity. Labelling an unattractive woman as beautiful is the equivalent of labelling a male chauvinist as a misogynist. They are two extrêmes that have nothing to do with each other. Fashion design is an aesthetic business that needs to display it’s products at their best. Furniture designers are not asked to photograph and display their creations in shoddy rooms because most people don’t have beautiful designer houses to imagine possible acquisitions in. Artists are not asked to muddy up galleries they display their work in because most people have walls that look lived in. Fashion designers should not be expected to compromise their aesthetic vision for inclusion solely for vanity sake. Feminism needs to stop telling the world all women are beautiful. There is nothing wrong with just being attractive. We all fit somewhere in the sliding scale of beauty. Find where you fit in and love who are, not who you want to be.