“No! You Can’t Leave The ‘Tribe’!"

Felicity Hayward, a model and activist, thinks 2023 was a turning point. “Ozempic arrived into our industry, and there was a definite change,” she says. Hayward, who has modelled for Mac and appeared on the cover of i-D magazine, monitors the number of designers using curve models across the fashion weeks in London, Paris, New York and Milan for her report Inside the Curve. At first the drop was slow, but this season, she says, “we’ve started to see a huge decline. New York, which had 70 plus-size models in 2023, had 23 earlier this year. At the September 2024 London fashion week, 80 plus-size models were on the runway, but just 26 this year.”

And why is this an issue? Because she doesn't want anyone to leave the reservation, like all progressives! 

Many models have lost weight, says Hayward. “The girls who used to be a size 16 or 18 are now size 12. It’s really difficult because, on one hand, I don’t want to speak about women’s bodies, but if the only plus-size representation we have are also losing weight, it does feel like the whole industry is turning their back on us.”

Gosh, the fashion industry is fickle? Who knew? 

Even when brands appeared to embrace size inclusivity, Nicholas-Williams says she was pessimistic that they would stick to it. “I was, like, this is going to be something that’s for a short period, and then we’re going to go back to how it was. I didn’t think it would be this soon, and so overtly.”

Oh, well, I'm sure you'll find some way to confort yourself, Felicity...