The rise of mid size models - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Fashion The perfect size model You By Laura Craik - September 11, 2022 After years of the super-skinny silhouette dominating the catwalks, brands are finally waking up to the power of the realistic model. Laura Craik reports. Mid-sizer Jill Kortleve on the Chanel catwalk Following an acute bout of dress envy sparked by a recent wedding, you are online, frantically googling ‘floral green maxi dress – actually any colour maxi dress, I don’t even care’. Oh! Here’s one. It’s lovely. Good sleeves. Flattering on the model – but she’s a size 6. How would it look on your size 14 frame? You won’t know without trying it on. But high-street sizes vary, and you’re unsure whether you’re a 12 or a 14 in this brand. Hmm. Can you be bothered with the faff of buying two sizes then returning one or both of them? Not really. For tens of thousands of women, this is a familiar story. Despite the average UK dress size being a 16, you’d never know it from the tall, thin physiques of the models that the majority of brands use to sell their clothes. Given sales are in a size 10-16, it’s a stinging irony that the very women who buy these clothes and drive brands’ profits are unrepresented on their websites and in their ad campaigns. Fashion peddles aspiration, the wisdom being that most women aspire to be slim and youthful and will simply reject clothes shown on figures like theirs. Not any more. After years of being overlooked – not only in favour of sample-size (UK 4-8) models but of plus-sized ones (18-24) – model agencies are reporting an uptick in demand for the women whose dress size is a 10-12. At long last, brands are waking up to the fact that the mid-size model has the potential to sell serious amounts of stock. According to Gia Lazarova, head of Milk Management’s Curve division, her roster of mid-size models has never been busier, a fact she attributes to their relatability. ‘Customers respond better when they see how clothes look on different body types. It makes them feel included. It’s important to see diversity in fashion and to see yourself represented.’ Where once brands would have been very specific in describing the look of the model they were hoping to cast, Lazarova says they are now more open-minded. ‘We’re finding that whether it’s a high-street brand or a high-end luxury one, if a client likes the girl, they will use her regardless of her size.’ Sara Ghazanfareeon, 25, has been modelling for seven years after entering a competition in a Swedish teen magazine for ‘size hero models’. She came second and won a contract with a Swedish agency. Having now worked with such labels as Agent Provocateur and Next, she says she’s never been busier. ‘A lot of brands have opened up and become more inclusive. My own experience as a model is that I struggled fitting into sample-size clothes but nor did I fit plus-size. Mid-size modelling opens doors for people who don’t slot into either of those categories.’ Ghazanfareeon, a UK size 10, sees herself simply as ‘a model’ rather than one that needs defining by her dress size. ‘I don’t think placing people in boxes is a good thing,’ she says. ‘But I do think the need for a certain body type is past its sell-by date. That doesn’t mean naturally skinny models shouldn’t still be a part of the industry. It’s not an either/or.’ Nina Uhl, 31, agrees. In the ten years she has been working, like many models, she’s struggled to square her own identity with the ones imposed on her by the fashion industry. ‘I’m a UK size 12 and I’m considered a curve model,’ she says. ‘I used to be labelled plus-size as well, just because I’m not the sample size. I was always between sizes, which was difficult, as clients would ask me to lose weight or gain weight to fit their clothes. In the beginning I tried to become a “straight-size” model and starved myself for years. But my measurements were never small enough, as my frame wouldn’t allow my hips to get any smaller. I lost a lot of hair and even my periods, because I was undernourished and stressed, focusing so much on keeping my measurements as low as possible.’ Even then, Uhl says she was body-shamed. ‘I got sent home from fashion shows and shoots if the client said I looked too big. Mentally, it was challenging. I was a young girl. As a model, you and your body are constantly judged, so it is hard not to take it personally. Being put on hold because of your weight and not being able to work can have a negative effect on your self-esteem.’ Plus-size modelling was almost as problematic. ‘I had many plus-size clients who wanted me to wear padding to fit with the brand. It’s why I’m thankful that more jobs have opened up to mid-size models. Being part of such a great change and representing my natural size makes me so happy. It’s something I’m passionate about, as I want to show young girls that they won’t have to starve themselves to fit into one standard ideal of beauty.’ Fashion’s acceptance of mid-size models is long overdue. Ever since the 1960s, the feeling has been that clothes look better on skinny women with narrow hips and breasts that daren’t spill above a B cup. During my years spent as a fashion editor reporting on catwalk shows, jutting-out ribs and concave stomachs were the norm. Bellies, breasts and big bums were stringently kept off the catwalk by ensuring the clothes themselves were so tiny that only a ‘sample size’ (UK 4-8) model could fit into them. At castings, woe betide those models whose zips didn’t fasten: they’d be sent home, often in tears. Last year, the British model Karen Elson (below), now 43, described how one designer called her ‘a beast’ and ‘disgusting’, saying she was frequently body-shamed, despite being a slender size 8. While it’s a no-brainer that the high street should be keen to employ mid-size models who reflect their customers, the luxury end of the market has been more resistant to change. In order to cut through the intense competition for ‘likes’ on social media, designer brands have to go to extreme lengths to get noticed. Exotic, jaw-droppingly beautiful locations are back on the menu. No expense is spared as editors and celebrity guests are flown in to capture the moment on Instagram, thus propelling the visibility of the brand. In a world where ‘going viral’ is the biggest prize, extremes are highly valued. A size 20 model will have as great a visual impact on the catwalk as a size zero. What isn’t valued is the in-between. Which makes the casting of Jill Kortleve, who closed Chanel’s July couture show, a radical move – precisely because, as a UK size 12, Kortleve’s size isn’t radical at all. In fact, it’s average – the one quality high fashion has always studiously avoided. While Kortleve, 28, has modelled for Nike, Zara and H&M before, luxury fashion has been slow to embrace her. That she has now walked for Michael Kors and Chanel can only be a positive sign, as is the fact that Valentino’s January couture show featured several mid-size models. Notable mention must also go to Alexander McQueen, one of the first luxury brands to normalise using mid-size models (including Kortleve) on the catwalk. No surprise that it’s helmed by Sarah Burton, a designer who has a more inclusive outlook than most. Designer Sarah Burton is a champion of mid-sizes As Uhl says: ‘The fashion industry might love extremes, but the sizes in between are the ones you see the most walking down the street. It’s a win-win for brands, as they finally realise that customers want their ads to be relatable, instead of creating unrealistic standards that only include a certain type of age or body shape. It’s important to have all body shapes represented in fashion, and to know people aren’t risking their health to fit a mould. It’s been a long time coming. All women should see themselves represented and think they are considered beautiful.’ RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR Rochelle Humes has launched a gorgeous new edit with Next Shop the YOU Magazine Instagram YOU picks the best new-in buys from M& S Popular in Fashion Laura Jackson has teamed up with Next for the chicest knitwear January 22, 2020 Holly Willoughby’ s birthday dress is another Zara bargain February 10, 2020 The Instagram-famous & Other Stories wool blazer is back in stock August 31, 2022 Lorraine just wore Emma Willis’ Next collection from head to toe March 17, 2020 The prettiest spring dresses under £100 March 1, 2022 Everyone is buying Holly’ s gorgeous gingham Oasis dress May 14, 2020 13 bargain dresses to buy in ASOS’ s extra 20 per cent June 10, 2020 This £20 H& M dress is set to be the social media June 26, 2020 Stacey Solomon x Primark is back for a third collection with July 20, 2020 Searches for this perfect heatwave summer top style are up 5000% August 10, 2020 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. 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