The First Plus-Size Fashion Show

On September 2013 history was made when for the first time ever there was an entire plus size clothing label including mens boots being modeled down the world famous catwalks of the New York Fashion Show. This had never been seen before as the modelling industry was wholly focused on using skinny models wearing amazing womens jumpers in all of its media advertising. This was the first time a designer had specialised in plus size clothing, and Miller’s clothing line was a huge success!

After the crowd began to see models of size 12 and higher strutting down the catwalk, Miller’s floral designs that came in the shape of dresses and knee high skirts drew attention from press from all around the world, complete with designer jewelry sourced from a variety of jewelry houses from around the world.Finally, plus size women were being recognised globally and were being offered a whole new and exciting range of comfortable clothing.

However, since this major milestone in the plus sized clothing industry, the hype stalled. There has since been a growing movement in social media for plus size women in fashion and media, but still not enough to gain full traction world-wide.

The plus size clothing industry still remains a relatively untapped market with a $17.5 billion worth of potential for aspiring designers to gain a share of. While most fashion magazines are stockpiled to the brim with unrealistic size 4 models, larger women are still being forced to shop online for clothing that fits them. Many young women have expressed their dislike of the term ‘plus-size’, and have adopted the outdated and more accurate term of ‘curvy’.

Miller explains that to increase the inclusion of all plus sized women, we all should not only be looking for the typical catwalk and fashion shows that look like they have been lit up by flood lighting, but should be looking past these. It is about bucking the trend, and challenging the idea of what fashion is.

Since fashion shows are a heightened version of the everyday style, it makes it very hard sometimes to reflect reality. These fashion shows tend to market the top notch and expensive clothing labels for ladies boots for example, that only a small minority can actually afford.

Considering most of the population don’t even watch the fashion shows, we need to be realistic when it comes to the exposure to the general public and plus size ladies who rock out the womens tops. It may be time for many people to realise that maybe the fashion shows are the root to the cause of how we perceive plus size women. Shifting our focus to more accessible places like shopping for plus size clothing online is more realistic.