'Saying skinny is ugly should be no more acceptable than saying fat is': Model Robyn Lawley says it’s time to get over our obsession with size

Lawley made the comments in an interview with the Guardian

The model said size obsession is holding women back

Added that we need to see more variety in fashion and the media

She might be famous for her lush curves, but plus-size model Robyn Lawley has hit back at the skinny shaming brigade, saying they 'miss the point'.

'People use me as a figurehead, and to me that misses the point and is blatantly offensive to thin women – my sister, for one,' the size 16 model revealed in an interview with the Guardian .

'Curves don't epitomise a woman. Saying, "skinny is ugly" should be no more acceptable than saying fat is.

Stunning: Robyn Lawley has been featured in Italian Vogue and was the face of Boux Avenue and Ralph Lauren

Variety: Lawley says the fashion industry and media should feature a range of different body types

'I find all this stuff a very controlling and effective way of making women obsess over their weight, instead of exploiting their more important attributes, such as intellect, strength and power.



We could be getting angry about unequal pay and unequal opportunities, but we're too busy being told we're not thin enough or curvy enough. We're holding ourselves back.'

24-year-old Lawley shot to fame in 2011 when she became one of the first plus-size models to appear on the cover of Italian Vogue.

Since then, the Australian has gone on to feature in campaigns for Boux Avenue and was the face of Ralph Lauren last year.

Nevertheless, despite becoming something of a poster girl for proponents of 'real women', the answer is not, says Lawley, to flood the catwalks with bigger girls but to encourage diversity instead.

'Look at fashion shows. We need a range of ages and ethnicities, she says. 'There are just very thin, white, 16-year-old girls on the catwalk and that has to change.'

Without more variety, she adds, girls subjected to a daily diet of ultra-skinny glossy celebrities will never feel at ease with themselves.

'I've seen the magazines, the TV shows, the celebrity articles, the same as everyone else. I'm not immune just because I'm a model.



'And I know they have a devastating effect on young girls. Don't use the words fat, skinny or diet. Tell your daughter constantly that you love her body the way it is.'