The Curvies Take on the Catwalk

Crystal Renn

Hayley Morley

Kate Dillon

Mia Tyler

Whitney Thompson

Plus Size Modeling

After the scandalous death of various models due to eating disorders, a handful of designers have been more careful in choosing the women who stroll the catwalk. These handful of designers felt obliged not to hire girls whom they thought were too skinny. Consequently, this has opened up the spectrum of their muses.

Beauty has been forced to open its cannons and our eyes. Beauty is not standardized, well, at least we are slowly moving towards this direction.

We were more than delighted when we saw one of the most notorious plus size model opening and closing one of the top fashion shows in Paris for this Collection: Beth Ditto for Jean Paul Gaultier.

Beth Ditto for Jean Paul Gaultier

Beth Ditto seen blowing a kiss to her designer.

The Catalogue

“Elena Miro has developed a philosophy of positive, ironic and effective communication.”

Elena Miro is know as a brand that has been able to deliver sympathy, joy, and the desire to bring back the so-called “tr

ue woman.” The brand’s goal is to help real women feel confident and at peace with themselves.

Their communication reflects the brand’s philosophy in the current Collection Catalogue of spring/summer 2011. The brand’s philosophy has always been synonymous to positivity, dynamism, and irony. Elena Miro has been able to communicate its message through strong and coherent ideas seen in many of their advertising materials.

Positivity is clearly depicted in the campaigns by the model who is always seen having fun, loving life and fashion, and most importantly flaunting her curves.

There is irony because it is about making fun of oneself and not taking life too seriously: Be spontaneous and free!

Furthermore, the group considers it to be effective and clear. The brand’s advertisements emphasize their message by showing the consumers that fashion is for every type of woman.

Anorexia is the Devil

For many years, people have long debated between the link that exists between the fashion world and a condition that is known as anorexia. The necessity to be skinny in the fashion world has definitely accentuated this problem, which affects many adolescents who strive to look like the beautiful models that strut the catwalks every year.

Several well-known models have unfortunately died due to this problem that they could no longer control. Famous model Isabelle Caro died at the age of 28 after fighting a struggling battle with the disease. Before her death, Caro worked vigorously to raise awareness against this disease. She was featured in an ad campaign that was shot by the famous Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani in 2007. Under the headline “No Anorexia,” images were posted across newspapers and billboards showing Caro naked and vertebrae. At that time, she weighed 27 kilograms.

Notwithstanding that the campaign shocked the world, many fashion designers did not necessarily support the cause and blamed anorexia not solely on the fashion industry. And while it is true that anorexia cannot only be associated to the fashion world, the pressure that surrounds the models and consequently the adolescents who look up to their “perfect” features is an argument that cannot be dismissed.

Below, we feature a video of singer/actress/fashion mogul, Jessica Simpson, interviewing the the late Isabell Caro (who died not even a year ago, December 2010) in her VH1 show called the Price of Beauty where she talks to the model about her anorexia and her campaign against it. Caro had suffered from this disease since the age of 13.

Elena Miro Sends A Message Through Her Independent Show

Despite having been dropped from the official list of Milan Fashion Week participants, the Italian plus – size prêt – a – porter brand, Elena Miro , had nothing less than a standing – room – only fashion show during her Spring/Summer 2011 presentation. As usual, the collection exuded style and elegance portrayed perfectly by each and every model.

The National Chamber of Italian Fashion released a statement justifying their decision to abruptly terminate the contract of the house of Elena Miro by saying, "Some labels just weren't in line with what ready-to-wear week should be. We wanted to champion the values of creativity to reaffirm Milan's role in the world."


The distraught designer said that this move may be because of the house's use of full – figured models. And said that every type of woman must be represented in every catwalk. This was exactly what she did. She let her models speak out for her and her fashion house.


The 1950s silhouettes and the idea of femininity inspired her current collection. Her models sashayed down the catwalk, showing their love for their own bodies and their appreciation for their curves. This walk showed the whole world what real women look like. 

Elena Miro Pays Tribute to the Curvy 50s

Her latest collection, Spring 2011, is an ode to the high - wasted, full - length skirts and dresses during the 1950s and most especially the curvaceous women of that time.

"Goodbye Skinny Girls"

Elena Miro emphasized their message through their many of their advertisements

The phenomena of the plus size industry began in the late 1990’s when the fashion world began to realize and understand the connection between fashion and plus size women. It became evident that this fact could no longer be ignored.

Marina Rinaldi, Spring/Summer 2011

As of today, several brands inlcuding Elena Miro, Anathea, and Marina Rinaldi have all been able to stand out and be recognized as global brands that manage to satisfy the needs of every woman. Each of these brands was able to communicate their brand through strong and coherent ideas. Most of all, they emphasized their desire to bring back the so-called “true woman.” 

Marina Rinaldi was the first brand to introduce the Italian expression “taglia comoda”, replacing the term taglia forte. Over the years, Marina Rinaldi has employed some of the world’s most famous photographers and models in order to bring out the true essence of the brand. 

 Anathea, Spring/Summer 2011

Anathea, just like Elena Miro, used similar communication tools as Marina Rinaldi. It placed beautiful plus size models at the heart of their advertisements in order to make women feel confident and at peace with themselves. Their campaigns were always extremely well done, elegant, and simple at the same time. Their goal was to instantly allow the consumer to reach out and most importantly to associate her curves with the beautiful outfits these brands produced. 

When it comes to their advertisements the curvy woman is portrayed slightly differently in the three brands that are sited above. Marina Rinaldi and Anatea depict their women in a very refined and elegant manner. The advertisements capture the dynamism of the fashion world and the different styles of women. As opposed to Elena Miro, Marina Rinaldi and Anathea focus less on the actual image of the curvy woman. Although they do try to bond with their plus size industry consumers, the advertisements focus mainly on the garments which are always associated to refined materials and sartorial details. Elena Miro focuses mainly on their models. Although their garments are always of high quality, the message they send out is more important. An example of this is the 1997 campaign of Elena Miro which used the slogan “Goodbye Skinny Girls.” This campaigns were driven by a riposte to the fashion world’s neglect of the ‘Mediterranean-shaped woman.’

Lagerfeld Goes Burlesque Curvy

The fashion genius Karl Lagerfeld had a little fun with Burlesque star Miss Dirty Martini and actress Jane Schmitt in a V Magazine fashion spread. Though he's been quoted saying that no one in this world would ever want to see curvy women strut on the catwalk, he surprised the world by collaborating with this world renowned 'Burlesquer'.