SALON

Monday, Sep 21, 2009 5:22 PM UTC

Catwalk catastrophe

A designer's staff abandons him over the decision to include plus-size models in a fashion show

By

Topics: Broadsheet,

It’s the kind of headline that can make your blood boil … or at least vigorously simmer: “Stylist at London Fashion Week resigns over designer Mark Fast’s decision to use size 14 models.” As the Daily Mail reports, both the aforementioned stylist and a creative designer walked out on knitwear designer Mark Fast a mere three days before his Fashion Week show. And, yes, it was the addition of three models from the plus-size agency 12+ UK that caused their departure. According to Amanda May, Fast’s creative director, the designer and his team parted ways due to “creative differences” over the decision. But, May affirms, “we are glad we stuck to our vision.”

This wasn’t Fast’s first attempt to get larger (that is, average-size) women involved in fashion. The Guardian describes his work with size-12 model Hayley Morley (one of the three 12+ UK models featured in his show) on a photography exhibition called “All Walks Beyond the Catwalk,” which features women ages 18-65, sizes 8-16, wearing clothing by young British designers.

So, this is a simple one, right? Fast is a hero for championing “real women,” and his stylist and creative designer are villains for refusing to uphold his egalitarian vision. Perhaps. But the situation may not be as black and white as the British press has made it out to be. Of course Fast should be celebrated for widening (no pun intended) the range of body types on the runway. What gives me pause is that his decision sounds like it was made at the last minute. After all, why else would the stylist and creative designer have stuck with a project they didn’t agree with for so long, only to drop out on principle three days before the show? Is it possible that Fast’s staff was merely reacting to a development that would cost them countless hours of extra, unplanned work? Fashion Week is a stressful time, and I can imagine such news — regardless of the laudable intentions — causing some major “creative differences.” And that’s why I’m wary of labeling anyone a fat-hating harpy without hearing the other side of the story.

For me, the story is more notable for bringing to light the possible limitations of the emerging fashion-world vogue for incorporating larger female bodies. It’s wonderful to see magazine editors showcasing Crystal Renn and Lizzi Miller, as designers fall all over themselves to create garments for Beth Ditto. Yet making real, lasting changes to the industry won’t be as easy as sewing a few larger dresses and hiring some plus-size models, at the last minute, to walk them down the runway. As Guardian fashion reporter Alice Fisher noticed, Fast may have done a good job matching Morley and Co. with flattering dresses (and, in so doing, shattered the received wisdom that only skinny women can wear his clothing), but it didn’t occur to him that models with ample bosoms needed supportive bras. Fisher’s verdict? “Cast normal size women again, Fast, it was great. But next time, knit them a bra as well as a dress.”

Judy Berman is a writer and editor in Brooklyn. She is a regular contributor to Salon's Broadsheet. More Judy Berman.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 50 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations