Body inclusion is still lacking at Fashion Week, starting with the invitations

New York Fashion Week kicks off on Friday, and after years of calls for more body inclusivity, the industry event still has a long way to go. Although many fashion brands have made efforts to introduce plus size dresses and models, even the crowd invited to participate does not feel inclusive to many.

Blogger Chastity Garner she told HuffPost she felt like an outsider from the start. When she was at Fashion Week in 2015, she weighed 360 pounds and couldn’t wear clothes on the runway. “What were we really looking for?” she asked. “It’s like when you want a lunch spot at school. I’m a person who loves fashion and wants to be included in fashion, but I didn’t feel included at fashion week.” For Garner, this was no surprise. “You can barely shop in the malls if you’re over a certain size, so I was expecting not to be represented at fashion week,” she said.

Instagram influencer Greivy was invited to a New York Fashion Week only show in February – for Tiffany Brown, a designer who has presented long models in the past. “The PR [public relations] people are limiting the coverage their client can get by making a list that is not inclusive,” he said. In the past, Greivy has been invited to shows for Cynthia Rowley, Libertine, Anna Sui and other designers, but this year she chose not to email PR teams to request invites. “I knew I would just be disappointed, because now TikTok influencers get all the seats. It’s ridiculous,” he said. “I know full well that these TikTokers don’t even connect like we did. They don’t know how or who is in charge.” Greivy sees a constant struggle to prove she belongs at Fashion Week: “Sometimes designers have a place, but plus-size influencers are more than just a sacrifice.”

Most attendees at designer shows are dressed by the brand. However, older guests are often excluded from clothing draws. “Brands are just sample sizes of clothing. It’s really hard to show up and not wear the brand when everyone else does because I don’t dress well,” Greivy said. “It makes me feel like I’m not cool or like I’m missing out because I’m left out.” She noticed that these brands have oversized pieces that fit, but don’t offer them to her in the first place. “They want their image to be a certain way, and that’s the sample size,” Greivy said. “Sometimes a jacket or a belt fits five different sizes, but they only offer clothes to people who are a size 2. I’ll probably get a bag or a shoe from the brand, but that’s it.

For DJ Ty Alexander, exclusion from Fashion Week has become the norm. Not only did she not get an invite this year, but the influencer hasn’t attended since 2017. like you’re on the outside looking in, she said. “There is pressure in the world to stay thin. This is not a fashion issue. Fashion just imitates what society does. Everything in the world is thin and I’m afraid that won’t change.

Models are also affected as they are trained to maintain their tall and lean physiques for the runways. Teaching to the standards proved to be harmful to Nathalie Novaes’ mental health. She sees the fashion industry as a catalyst for her eating disorder, a struggle she endured for seven years as a model. “I have built this international career for which I am very grateful. But I built that with a body that wasn’t really natural because I was dieting all the time,” she told HuffPost. “I could never relax with food. I was always hungry.”

She cited Brazil Fashion Week 2014 as a particularly toxic experience. “All the models are really focused on not getting fat. In fact, no one was eating,” he recalled. “I remember coming home with this mental exhaustion and hunger. I couldn’t eat because I had all these shows.” By the end of Fashion Week, Novaes was resorting to excess. “I was so hungry. It’s an inspiring environment where everyone is self-aware,” she said.

When Novaes was only a size 4, customers began to complain about its weight. “I was called a balloon,” he said. “I have wide hips and I think they look good. But I’m not like the stereotypical pattern that is a straight line.” Eventually, Novaes’ work stopped altogether. At that point, she had given up on the agency and was eager to let it go. “I told my agency I was leaving. They said they were relieved that they couldn’t find work,” said Novaes.

Models and influencers aren’t the only ones aware of industry pressures; Photographers also avoid photographing larger bodies. “Body exclusivity was the norm for a good part of my career.” She said shoot Alvin Toro. “Everything from catwalk shows to editorials, advertisements and catalog shoots has been and continues to be influenced by outdated beauty ‘standards’. The 1990s brought digital image manipulation and the rise of the supermodel. With them came the unrealistic beauty standards that we still struggle with today during Fashion Week.

Toro said he even fell in love with the body-exclusive models in his own photos. “It was almost impossible for anyone to consider your work if the projects didn’t fit the editor’s vision,” he said. “Because of the way it works from the top down, advertisers and brands would take a similar position.”

In an industry that still struggles to be fully body inclusive, it’s up to models, influencers and photographers as individuals to spark change. After years of dieting, Novaes decided enough was enough. “I emailed my agents and said, ‘OK, I’m probably going to gain weight, but I’m not on a diet. I don’t want to hear any more comments about my body,’” she said.

Toro, meanwhile, has taken steps to feature more diversity in its work. In 2019, the photographer collaborated with Hungarian fashion designer Eni Hegedus-Buiron of Lulu et Gigi Couture for the year editorial meeting in Pariswhich featured several plus-size models and a double amputee.

However, designers often use plus size models to check a box and avoid criticism or controversy. As plus size fashion became more popular, the industry realized that it could profit from the symbolization of curvy models. “True inclusion looks like more than a token model. It looks like more than this girl has a chance to walk for a major brand,” Garner said. “Inclusivity is more than the model on the runway. It is also the clothing that is offered”.

Although progress has been made, people are still excluded from Fashion Week because of their size. “When I became a plus-size model, I was a size 8, which is ridiculous,” Novaes said. “I didn’t have much work because at any moment [designers] you want to cast someone different, go to the extreme. They think, “OK, if we put this plus-size woman in, it makes us inclusive.” The model sees it as an alternative situation: you’re either plus size or you’re not, and there’s no in between.

Efforts that include the body are seen as a rebellion against the status quo. Designers get honorable mentions for introducing a range of plus sizes, but it doesn’t count because those dimensions weren’t there to begin with. “These brands need to do better. Just because we’re over a size 44 doesn’t mean we can’t be invited [to fashion week]Greivy said.