THINNESS IS BACK IN FASHION, BUT IT NEVER LEFT
Words by Audrey Treon
2.01.25
From Social Media to the Runway
Runway shows in the 90s and early 2000s are often categorized by a beauty standard so lovingly referred to as “heroin chic.” Think of a 90s supermodel, one with pale skin, bags under her eyes, hollow cheekbones, a cigarette in hand, and most importantly, a thin body. Remember when Kate Moss said, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels,” (in her defense, she has stated she regrets saying this). Heroin chic is pretty much that quote personified.
There was a glimmer of hope in the 2010s. Body image issues were being talked about openly, magazines were being called out for altering photos, and Anaconda by Nikki Minaj had everyone obsessed with big butts. But here we are again. “Skinny is in back” as the tabloids would say.
Plus-size content creators are some of the driving forces behind the body positivity/neutrality movement. Creators like Samyra (@/samyra on TikTok), Simi Moonlight (@/simimoonlight on TikTok), and Remi Bader (@/remibader on TikTok) use their platforms to encourage people to live their lives authentically because of their body, not despite. “I stopped punishing myself the moment when I realized that every version of me is worthy of feeling beautiful, of being taken care of, of showcasing and presenting themselves as they desire — like every single version of me is worthy of that.” (Samyra via TikTok). Their powerful presence on social media exists as a force of strength, love, and companionship with people on social media who may face fatphobia or other forms of body-shaming.
Social media is a place where you can find just about any opinion under the sun. So while plus-size influencers are making a big difference in how people view themselves and their bodies, there is another end to the spectrum.
Ozempic, the type 2 diabetes medication has taken the world by storm. Ozempic has simultaneously become an accusation and a goal. If a celebrity suddenly loses a noticeable amount of weight the Ozempic allegations are quick to come. If an ordinary person wants to lose weight, the Ozempic suggestions are quick to come. TikTok has become infested with pro-ana content (content that purposefully promotes eating disorders), just like Twitter, Instagram… really any social media platform. Where there is social media there is a circle of disordered promotional content to be found.
If fashion is a form of self-expression, then shouldn’t we strive to be radically accepting of the self? Self-acceptance and self-love are not values widely appreciated in the fashion industry. If they were, we would see models of every size and every demographic at every show, including your favorite designers. But how do we combat these inequalities? One of the first steps to improving the industry is respecting modeling as a career and profession and respecting models of every size. According to The Anticapitalist Book of Fashion by Tansy E. Hoskins, “Much of the industry remained, and indeed remains, vehemently against rights for models —arguing instead for self-regulation to protect fashion as ‘art.’ As well as starvation, models report being painted with car paint instead of body paint, having their eyes burned with cosmetics, and having their hair fall out after it has been bleached three times on a shoot. These are real people not canvases. This ‘art’ has consequences,” (166-167, Hoskins). The argument that fashion is art, and art has no limits, is an immoral one. True – fashion is art. Untrue – art has limits. Especially when humans are at the forefront of fashion presentation.
According to the The Vogue Business AW24 size inclusivity report, 95% of models were straight-sized with plus-sized models (U.S. 14+) making up a mere 0.8% of models for the entirety of Autumn/Winter 2024 fashion shows. These numbers are unacceptable. There is no one culprit to blame for these statistics. Creative directors, casting directors, modeling agencies, and yes, everyday enjoyers of fashion need to be held to a higher standard. We as a collective need to put pressure on fashion houses for their lack of body diversity, and yes, we need to dismantle the fatphobia that has been taught to us.
Plus-sized models and people have been protesting toxic and unattainable beauty standards as long as they have existed. Model Whitney Thompson is quoted as saying “I'm here to change things so that little girls have someone to look up to. I'm here to fight the eating disorder battle that millions of people are having and I'm standing up and saying that's not okay. Frankly, I can't fail. I will not fail.”
There is a clear double standard for whose job it is to challenge fatphobia, do we see straight-sized models and designers speaking out against fatphobia? Yes, we do, but it is rare compared to the sheer number of plus-sized models and people who carry the burden of dismantling fatphobia and creating an equitable world and industry.
The Body Binary
The most common body type in fashion is a skinny body. Occasionally a plus-size model will walk the runway, but those moments are few and far between. The body sizes in between those two body types are rarely seen in fashion. With the general direction the industry is going in, the binary feels so strong — strive for skinny, but plus-size works too, as long as we can capitalize on it. The tokenization of people and identities has been an issue in fashion for as long as the industry has existed. In the case of body size tokenization, two sides of the spectrum are shown, straight and plus-size, without any representation or acknowledgment of the bodies that exist between those two ends. True diversity must come from a radical care of people’s marginalized identities — their joy, representation, safety, and more.
Fashion Is ___ Until It’s Not
Fashion is political until it’s inconvenient, too controversial, or would decrease sales. Fashion is a world where the envelope is pushed every day, or at least it’s supposed to be. So why do we accept that inclusivity and diversity are not worth the so-called risk? The recent rise in inclusivity, diversity, and representation in the industry has been amazing, but we cannot stop there. Why revert to (not that we ever really left) rampant diet culture, fatphobia, and prejudice in the fashion industry? Did those values ever leave? Yes, we have been getting more representation – which is incredible. However, we have a long road ahead of us. Hopefully, we can walk that road in our favorite shoes, hand in hand, regardless of body size, on the way to a better industry.