“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...

 

You Fed The Crocodile, So It Would Eat You Last...

...and now you can't use it's skin any more:

Copenhagen fashion week has just announced that it will ban exotic skins and feathers from its catwalks next year, becoming the biggest industry event yet to do so. “Skål to Copenhagen fashion week for raising the bar for other events,” says the vice-president of corporate projects at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), Yvonne Taylor. “Now all eyes are on other fashion week organisers, who must follow suit.”

Is that a 'must' in the sense that fashion is known for following the crowd blindly, or 'must' in the sense that they were craven over real fur so you guess they'll be craven over this as well?  

But there is still a long way to go. While the prohibition follows similar moves from smaller fashion weeks, such as Stockholm and Melbourne, as well as brands such as Burberry and Chanel, it will be a while until exotic skins, including crocodile, snake, alligator and ostrich, as well as ostrich and peacock feathers, are considered cruel in the same way as fur.

Well, you don't have to kill the bird to get the feathers, since they moult, and expecting the celebs who cried over cute foxes and minks to do so over 10 foot man-eating reptiles is a fool's errand, so yes. 

While there has been no marked spike in the use of exotic animal skins, one of the most high-profile designs of the last year was the so-called Millionaire Speedy bag. Made out of crocodile skin, the Pharrell Williams design for Louis Vuitton lived up to its names with a price tag of $1m.Saltwater crocodiles have one of the most lusted-after skins in the industry, according to a report from the ethical fashion advocacy group Collective Fashion Justice, and “luxury brands such as Hermès and Louis Vuitton not only source these skins but now own factory farms themselves.”

And you won't see many animal rights nutters making midnight raids to let them out!