Plus-size model is a term applied to a person who is engaged primarily in modeling plus-size clothing. Plus-size models also engaged in work that is not strictly related to selling large-sized clothing, e.g., stock photography and advertising photography for cosmetics, household and pharmaceutical products and sunglasses, footwear and watches. Therefore plus-size models do not exclusively wear garments marketed as plus-size clothing. This is especially true when participating in fashion editorials for mainstream fashion magazines.
The requirements for plus-size models are no different from those of other models, except for larger bust-waist-hip measurements; the minimum acceptable height is generally no shorter than 5'9"/175.3 cm and they must have clear skin, good bone structure and a well-proportioned body. The type of work that plus-size models engage in is of comparable variety to that of their smaller-sized counterparts. Advertising campaigns, magazine editorials, catwalk work, garment fit modeling, and live and pre-recorded TV presentations and commercials comprise much of work available. Increasingly, plus-size models are also being utilized by the media to stimulate debate on healthy self-esteem and body image, especially regarding struggles with eating disorders. Synonymous and interchangeable with plus-size model is "full-figured model," "extended-sizes model," and "outsize model" (which is used primarily in the United Kingdom).
The business
As the development of the industry is closely tied to population change in affluent countries and clothing industry growth, the plus-size model industry has grown fairly equally at various places. Many model agencies have created divisions specifically to locate and develop potential models.
Fashion designers are starting to look more closely at the earning potential from plus-size clothing with prêt-à-porter, and have started booking plus-size models for their advertising campaigns and catwalks. Jean-Paul Gaultier and John Galliano both used plus-size models in their Spring 2006 showings in Paris. Italian plus-size fashion house Elena Mirò now regularly stages a prêt-à-porter show during Fashion Week in Milan.
Arguably the largest region of industry growth has been within North America , where a large number of plus-size people and encouraging media have created a unique culture around plus-size modeling, and allowed about 25 agencies either specifically representing plus-size models or with divisions to do so. Internationally, the industry also includes several well-established agencies in England, Germany and Australia, collectively serving clients throughout Western and Central Europe, South Africa, and the South Pacific and Asia. Plus-size models have been serving the strong German client market for over 15 years.
Development of the industry in the United States
Although U.S.-based manufacturers used larger models to show their plus-size clothing as early as the 1940s, the bias against larger consumers and models pervasive in the fashion industry worked to keep this particular concept of modeling out of the general public's eye until the early 1990s.
Lane Bryant is widely acknowledged to have been the first large-scale producer of plus-size clothing in North America and therefore user of plus-size models. It began trading in the early 1920s as a producer of clothing for 'Expectant Mothers and Newborns'. By the mid-1920s, Lane Bryant started selling clothing under the category 'For the Stout Women', which ranged between a 38-56 inch bustline. The earliest catalogs used illustrations only to sell their products, but by the mid-1940s photographs were integrated into the catalogs as the evolution of printing technology made this option available. After a hiatus through the 1960-1970 period, Lane Bryant again began using plus-size models and today remains one of the plus-size model industry's most prestigious and desired clients.
In 1979 Carol Shaw founded Big Beautiful Woman magazine (more commonly known via the acronym BBW ) and claims credit for introducing the acronym into common use among readers and eventually the public. BBW was one of the first publications in the US that catered specifically to plus-size clothing consumers. Shaw sold the magazine to LFP, Inc., and it ceased publication in 1995. The brand was sold and although it was resurrected in print via several different editor and publisher combinations as a magazine it continued to falter, ceasing publication most recently in the late 1990s. BBW is now an online community surrounding archived material from the magazine.
With strong cooperation from Wilhelmina 10/20, Curves and Ford 12+, MO D E Magazine was launched in the spring of 1997 to immediate success. No other fashion magazine specifically targeted the plus-size consumer with a Vogue -like fashion philosophy, nor with sophisticated imagery. As a result, a booking with the magazine was viewed as the ultimate level of plus-modeling success. The editorial practice of including the models' names and quotations on self-esteem to make them more approachable greatly aided the popularity of the women featured and gave them a form of celebrity. MO D E also ran model search competitions with the Wilhelmina modelling agency, drawing entries from thousands of hopefuls from the US and Canada. Its circulation was around 600,000 at the time of its demise in late 2001.
In 1995, Lane Bryant began a transformation of the brand, targeting younger customers with more fashion-forward clothing. Through a series of runway shows and celebrity spokespersons including Queen Latifah, Mia Tyler, Camryn Manheim, Anna Nicole Smith, and Sex and the City's Chris Noth, Lane Bryant became the industry leader via its approach to marketing and advertising. In February 2000, it launched Cacique lingerie, and held the first lingerie fashion show for plus-size women. The event was widely acclaimed and created millions of impressions in the press. In 2002, more than 200 million people worldwide watched website playback of the Lane Bryant fashion show featuring 70s rock band KISS. In 2003, the fashion show featured MC Roseanne Barr in a cabaret setting complete with Moulin Rouge-style singers and dancers, which Barr later described as being largely ignored by TV media.
The main players, U.S.
Gary Dakin headed the Karin Models' Curves division, only to leave after a short time to develop the Ford agency's Ford 12+ model division in their New York office. In Constantine Valhouli's 2001 plus-size model documentary Curve , Dakin states, "We're celebrating our 25th anniversary of the Ford 12+ division. It was the first and longest-existing plus division in the industry."(sic) Wilhelmina NYC agent Susan Georget started the Wilhelmina 10/20 division in New York 1994. Together, these agents have recruited the highest calibre of models in the industry and are credited with expanding opportunities for plus-size models beyond working solely for plus-size clothing retailers. Both agents are also regarded as holding the most power in the plus-size model industry, although Georget and Dakin have now removed themselves from day-to-day booking tasks.
Model Service Agency's Goddess division launched in 1999, placing plus-size models into fit and commercial opportunities.
Setbacks to growth, U.S.
Occurring shortly before the time of MO D E's closure was the failure of several designers' ventures into the plus-size market. Versace ( GV Versatile Couture ), Valentino ( Carisma ), Anne Klein Plus and others ceased producing the clothing which MO D E Magazine relied upon, leaving a gaping hole in both the fashion department wardrobes and advertising revenue coffers of MO D E Magazine and its successor/s.
- After the demise of MO D E Magazine its then Executive Editor, Ceslie Armstrong, and many of the ex-MO D E staff collaborated to create Grace Magazine , which launched on May 14, 2002 as an independent quarterly publication and website under a similar concept. Even though the initial 400,000 print run sold out quickly, and the magazine's issues were brimming with advertising, the independent status and limited funding prohibited the ability to grow to fill the newsstand and subscription orders. Critics, however, believed that Grace featured far less stylish fashion content than its predecessor and unwisely pursued an editorial emphasis on weight-related health issues. Grace Magazine ceased operation due to lack of funding in November 2003, after publishing just 10 issues.
- Lane Bryant was acquired by Charming Shoppes for $335 million in August 2001, and in 2003 a cost-reduction plan was announced to improve the company's pre-tax position by $45 million. Shortly afterwards, the annual big-budget Lane Bryant fashion show ceased production, however the redress was to come later in the form of Charming Shoppes' custom advertorial magazine, Figure . Although it featured only Charming Shoppes' own product and related lifestyle articles, it remained the only U.S.-based fashion and lifestyle magazine specifically-targeted for plus-size consumers up to the time of its announced closure after the publication of the March/April 2009 issue .
State of the U.S. industry today
While the Internet has provided a breeding ground for a growing number of grassroot e-zines, model agencies, online retailers, calendar projects and other associa
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