Fear of the Fat Body

A while back, I went to a very chic networking event in the city that was supposed to bring fashion creatives and executives alike together and encourage a stronger knit community for the Chicago fashion scene. I met photographers, models, scouts, marketers, writers and my favorite—designers. While exchanging Instagram’s and business cards with all these fabulous people, I noticed, most of the indie designers didn’t have anything listed on their sites or their socials that catered to plus sizes. Not one plus size model. Not even a 14-16 listed as a size on their sites.

So, you can guess what I did. I asked: why? Most gave answers that beat around the question, or changed the subject, but one answer stood out amongst the rest. “I just haven’t found a plus size muse that inspires me yet.” A lot of designers have muses, women or men they think of when creating new collections. I mean Thierry Mugler had several muses throughout the years–Connie Flemming, Stella Ellis, or Grace Jones. But I find it a bit hard to believe that in 20 years as a designer and creative that one wouldn’t have found some sort of inspiration in a plus size woman.

There are so many iconic and beautiful plus size women all around us every day that are walking mood boards, but it seems the fashion industry—and that’s not to assume the entire industry thinks like this, but most! —still doesn’t see the artistry in fat bodies. In the past, whether that be in Rome or other parts of Europe, you can literally see the appreciation for different bodies and womanly curves in sculptures and paintings. In Africa, a fat body is considered desirable in women, and signals wealth and health. In the current day and age, the worst thing you could be in western society as a woman is fat. So, I pose the question: Where did the fear of the fat body come from?

Why are designers so afraid to envision the styles they create on a larger body? Of course, there would be some minor changes to designs to make them more accessible to a larger body, but the changes are not so drastic that they take away from the functionality nor artistry of any one garment. So why do we lack plus size muses when most of the women in America are a size 14+?

Food for thought. x.