Fashion stakeholders have expressed concern that the industry’s progress towards size inclusivity is being curtailed.
Vogue Business released its Spring/Summer 2025 Size Inclusion Report on Tuesday, stating that “size inclusivity efforts have stalled across New York, London, Milan and Paris,” leading to “a shift towards the use of very thin models.” “We are facing a worrying reversal in the
Of the 8,763 looks shown at the womenswear collection’s 208 shows held earlier this month, 94.9% were shown on straight-sized models ranging from US sizes 0 to 4 (equivalent to UK sizes 4 to 8). Just 0.8% of models were plus size (UK 18+), also known as curves, and 4.3% were medium sized (UK 10-16). In Milan, 98% of the looks are shown on straight-sized models, and Vogue Business reports that some of the mid-sized figures are co-eds featuring menswear looks modeled on muscular men. said that it was biased by brand.
“I feel like we’ve taken 10 steps back,” said Anna Shillinglaw, founder of modeling agency Milk Management.
Slender models have always dominated the catwalks, but in recent years models with a wider range of body shapes have begun to appear. Jill Kortrave made headlines in 2000 when she was cast as Chanel’s first model over UK 8 in 10 years. In another landmark moment of inclusive casting, the cover of British Vogue’s April 2023 issue features plus-size models Paloma Elsesser and Precious under the headline “New Supers.”・Coltrave was featured alongside Lee.
But 18 months later, the fashion industry has reversed course, with some stakeholders lamenting new resistance to inclusivity.
“I now feel that some high-end designers may have seen curvaceous women as a fashion fad rather than a reality,” says Shillinglaw, adding that British dress He mentioned that the average size is 16.
While Chanel included some mid-size and plus-size models this season, other luxury brands did not. Instead, reinforcing body diversity was left to emerging brands such as London’s Caroline Vitto and Paris’ Estelle Manas.
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Stella McCartney has apologized after coming under fire last week for sharing an image of the model backstage at a show that some social media users claimed was unhealthy. Chloe Rosolek, a London-based casting director, said she was baffled by the exclusion of plus-size bodies from major brands, adding: “It’s very hard to pretend that whole groups of people don’t exist. It’s very strange.”
Losing weight has become widely culturally mainstream, as drugs such as Ozempic, originally developed to treat diabetes, have been adopted for weight loss in Hollywood and beyond. Vogue Business describes it as “the glorification of thinness.”
As celebrities and influencers get smaller, even straight-sized models are feeling the pressure to maintain their measurements or drop inches. “Sizes are shrinking across the board, and that includes already straight-size models,” Rosolek said. “Many of the models that used to be plus size are now midsize.”
Kering, the parent company of brands such as Gucci and Balenciaga, and LVMH, which includes Louis Vuitton and Dior, partnered in 2017 on a charter to protect the health of models. As a result, size 0 models and models under the age of 16 were banned from appearing in the show.
Kering raised its minimum age to 18 in 2019, but major rivals such as LVMH have not followed suit. This season in Milan, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s 16-year-old daughter Sunday Rose Kidman Urban opened the Miu Miu show, but according to fashion database Models.com, several of the top models He was under 21 years old and was small in size. zero.
Many models are naturally thin and find themselves shamed for being unreasonably thin. But just like ballet’s “Balanchine” body, the modeling industry is notorious for creating unrealistic and unhealthy ideals. We still have many ultra-thin models and models that are in poor condition on reservation.
Emily McGrail, a 21-year-old model from Manchester, has been sharing on TikTok her experience working in Milan, where she attended castings for shows such as Prada. Unable to find a job, she was advised to lose one centimeter from her waist. “I looked around at the other models and felt like I didn’t deserve to be there,” she told the Guardian. “I felt ‘fat’ in comparison. Technically speaking, given my height and age, I would be considered underweight, but when I looked around them, I felt… It definitely felt big.”
Former casting director James Scully said: These models simply serve a purpose. They’re not here to bring some personality or joy or sell anything. They went back to the clothes hanger. ”
