The fashion industry faces renewed questions about its commitment to size inclusivity as representation of mid-size and plus-size models on the runway continues to decline. Three designers known for creating clothing for a broader range of body types have raised concerns about the industry's direction and the challenges facing brands that prioritise body diversity.
In an interview published by Vogue on Monday, 19 October, designers Ester Manas, Sinéad O'Dwyer and Karoline Vitto discussed the difficulties of maintaining size-inclusive fashion businesses, the limited visibility of larger models and the commercial pressures affecting independent designers.
The discussion comes as figures from the latest Vogue Business Size Inclusivity Report shows that straight-size models continue to dominate major fashion week runways, leaving mid-size and plus-size representation at a small proportion of the overall collections.
Plus-Size Representation Declines at Fashion Weeks
According to the report, the Spring/Summer 2027 season highlighted a significant gap in body representation across the London and Paris runways. In London, plus-size looks accounted for just 0.5% of runway appearances, down from 0.8% in the previous season. Mid-size representation also fell, from 6.5% to 3.6%, while straight-size looks increased from 92.7% to 95.9%.
Paris recorded a slight improvement in representation compared with the previous season. Plus-size looks rose from 0.1% to 0.5%, while mid-size looks increased from 0.4% to 2%. Straight-size looks nevertheless accounted for 97.5% of appearances, compared with 99.5% in the previous season.
The figures underline the limited presence of models outside conventional runway sizing, despite years of discussion about body diversity in fashion. The report also highlights the influence of designers who consistently feature models across a wider range of sizes.
Ester Manas returned to the Paris runway for the Spring/Summer 2027 season after a two-year break, with 42.4% of looks featuring mid-size models and 36.4% featuring plus-size models. Sinéad O'Dwyer presented her work at London's Victoria and Albert Museum in July, while Karoline Vitto showed her collection at Rio Fashion Week in April.
Designers Question Fashion Inclusivity
For the three designers, size inclusivity goes beyond casting a handful of models for a runway show. Their brands also develop and sell clothing designed to fit customers across a broader range of body sizes.
Ester Manas explained that she initially created inclusive clothing for personal reasons. Depending on the brand, she wears European sizes 44, 46 or 48, yet her work in fashion involved designing garments for considerably smaller sizes. She and her husband, Balthazar Delepierre, founded their label around a different approach to sizing, showing that creative fashion design doesn't have to be restricted to smaller bodies.
O'Dwyer also spoke about the personal impact of exclusionary beauty standards. Reflecting on her own experiences with an eating disorder when she was younger, she highlighted the vulnerability of young people who repeatedly encounter a narrow range of body types in luxury fashion imagery. The designer said that seeing the same body size, height and abilities represented repeatedly could affect how young people perceive themselves.
Vitto, meanwhile, expressed a desire for inclusive sizing to become an ordinary part of fashion rather than something that sets particular designers apart from the rest of the industry. 'We are now facing this pandemic of people shrinking themselves, and we don't really know what consequences there will be for that in the future,' she said. Vitto hopes that brands committed to size inclusivity would no longer be treated as exceptions.
Independent Brands Face Commercial Challenges
The designers also described the financial and operational difficulties of running independent labels that offer extended sizing. O'Dwyer explained that producing garments in a wider range of sizes requires additional resources, making it harder for smaller businesses to follow traditional wholesale and retail models.
She recalled producing garments up to a US size 20 for a major retailer, only to find that the items were not adequately promoted online. According to the designer, the retailer didn't even include some products in its dedicated curve section, limiting visibility to customers who might have been looking for them.
Vitto said her brand had instead developed a direct-to-consumer approach, allowing her to build closer relationships with customers. She also works with selected boutiques that are willing to represent the brand's sizing range properly.
Manas criticised what she described as superficial approaches to inclusivity, in which brands feature a small number of curvier models for a campaign without making broader changes to their products or practices. The designers' accounts point to a distinction between using diverse models in promotional material and making inclusive clothing available for customers to purchase.
Are Curvier Models Becoming a Token Presence?
The conversation also addressed the use of well-known curve models in fashion campaigns and runway shows. While Vitto argued that featuring even one or two curvier models was preferable to having none, Manas questioned whether repeatedly casting the same famous faces offered meaningful representation.
O'Dwyer acknowledged the cultural importance of seeing women with different body types in fashion imagery, while also raising concerns about the very small sizes commonly associated with runway modelling. The discussion extended to garments designed to create the appearance of curves on models who do not naturally have those proportions.
Vitto questioned why designers would construct exaggerated hips or busts into clothing instead of casting models whose bodies already reflect those shapes. She argued that naturally occurring curves should also be accepted and represented within fashion. The comments raise questions about whether the industry is embracing body diversity in practice or relying on styling and occasional casting choices to create the impression of inclusivity.
Designers Call for Greater Support and Education
Looking ahead, the designers highlighted the need for practical support to help more brands develop inclusive collections. O'Dwyer suggested that funding initiatives could help independent labels cover the costs of developing additional sample sizes. She argued that financial barriers can prevent smaller designers from expanding their sizing ranges, even when they want to improve representation.
Manas also called attention to fashion education, suggesting that schools should use mannequins in a wider range of sizes so students can learn to design for different body types from the beginning of their training. For the designers, meaningful change requires more than occasional runway appearances or marketing campaigns. It also involves the way clothes are designed, manufactured, sold and taught.
The latest runway figures show that mid-size and plus-size models accounted for a small proportion of appearances at London and Paris Fashion Weeks. The three designers have called for greater support for inclusive sizing, including funding for sample development and broader size representation in fashion education.
