and the Size Zero debate rages on...

So there I was reading my bible of the month, Fashion Statement (the Guardian's fashion news weekly e-newsletter) and I came across another wonderful 'Quote of the Week', this time, from Julien Macdonald, designer and Britain's Next Top Model celebrity judge.

....

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Or perhaps Anti-Quote of the Week, from new Britain's Top Model judge Julien Macdonald:

You can't have a plus-size girl winning - it makes it a joke. It's not fair on them - you're setting them up for a fall. They are looked down on, they're frowned upon. A catwalk model is a size six to eight. If you're a size 14 in a room full of size eights, you're in the wrong room.

How about you make it the RIGHT room then? Gosh, we wonder who could possibly have the power to change this. Oh, we know, maybe a FASHION DESIGNER?

A pretty poignant quote, if ever there was one. Sad thing is, I find it hard to disagree with him. Being a size 12-14 myself, I live for the day when 'curvier' (whatever that means) women take centre stage on the catwalk, and for the industry to accept 'normal sized' women into their exclusive bubble of glamorousness. HOWEVER I have to agree that this is not the reality at the moment, and if a plus-size model was to win BNTM, I can't see her getting the same work that a size 6 winner would be given, nor can I imagine the fashion/media industry taking said winner seriously.

I do agree with FS when they say that fashion designers are the ones to change this stereotype, so for Julien to say the above comment seems a bit judgemental and not exactly open-minded.

Look at Crystal Renn, the 'plus-size' (yep, still in inverted commas) model who is taking the fashion industry by storm, even the skinny people love her.(!)

Renn made her debut modelling at Mark Fast's A/W 2010 show, and since then has appeared on countless tv shows in America and the UK, and has been featured in gazillions of women's magazines, mostly as a poster-girl for the anti-size zero campaign, which rages on.

However, recently it has been suggested that Renn has had a dramatic weigh-loss, seen here on Fox News' entertainment site.

So does this mean that Julien Macdonald may be talking some sense after all? If beautiful models like Renn are already feeling the pressure to slim down and become more like their waif counterparts, does this make the whole plus-size model a sham?

Like Sophie Dahl before her, it seems a shame that Renn has felt the need to lose weight, given her catwalk success,and having entered into a domain no 'real-size' women has ventured into for some time.


Photo by Nicholas Routzen seen here.