On the Runway at Full Figured Fashion Week
Released on 09/15/2014
This is Lizzy Widdicombe and in this week's issue
I have an article about the plus-size fashion industry,
which is fashion for women who wear sizes 14 and above.
So as part of my reporting for this, I went to an event
called Full-Figured Fashion Week, which was a fashion show
for designers and people who work in the
plus-size fashion industry.
One of the first differences you notice at
Full-Figured Fashion Week, apart from obviously the bodies
of everyone in the room, and the models, is the atmosphere.
The crowd is cheering enthusiastically.
It's as much of a community event and a pep rally
as it is just about the clothes.
One thing that you quickly learn is that the plus-size
fashion industry is a very small world.
There are not many people making clothes for larger women.
And it exists to a large extent on the internet.
So sitting in the front rows at this show were a lot of
the most influential bloggers, who kind of play the role
that Anna Wintour or big magazine editors or critics
play at mainstream Fashion Week.
The women onstage at this show were cast at an
open casting call around the country.
And a lot of them haven't worked as commercial models.
They were trained for this show.
As I got more into the world of plus-size fashion,
you learn that professional plus-size models are subject
to the same pressures that so-called
straight size models are.
They have to have a specific look that works in catalogs
for companies like Lane Bryant or Macy's.
They often have to have an angled face and sometimes
they even are a size eight or a size 10.
The women at this show were, really sometimes broke out
of that mold, and they had all kinds of
different curvy bodies, and different looks.
And you quickly learn that the way you look as a woman
has a lot to do with your attitude and how you
present yourself.
So this show is really about celebrating
different standards of beauty.
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