Rescu. loves plus-size women – but the fashion world sometimes doesn’t. Luckily there’s a new shopping magazine out there for ladies of the curvier persuasion…
The fashion world and normal-sized women have a very odd relationship.
For all the celebration of ‘curves’, ‘plus-size models’ and ‘clothes for every size’, straight-size models and celebrities outnumber fleshier women 100 to 1.
And even when curvier women are celebrated, they’re often in fashion shoots wearing nothing at all – see Tara Lynn, Robyn Lawley and others naked and voluptuous in Vogue Italia, a shoot which was ground-breaking but still depressing in that it was clear they couldn’t find designer clothes to fit the ladies.
A UK fashion designer has had enough, and is launching her own magazine purely for the size 14 and up. It’s called Slink, and it’s making waves not only for its daring, but for its difficulties.
The editor, Rivkie Baum, says that designers don’t create clothes for bodies above a size 10, and they have to use a ‘fashion illustrator’ to illustrate designer looks in larger sizes. The magazine bans any models under a size 14, alongside any talk of diets or plastic surgery. Women will be featured in all shapes and sizes, in lingerie, bikinis and straight-from-the-catwalk clothes, but there will be no talk of “getting that bikini body”, says Baum.
The UK fashion glossies aren’t angry about the competition, either – on the contrary, some very big names are congratulating Slink on doing things they themselves couldn’t.
Liz Jones, who once edited Marie Claire, reminisced that she was fired after putting Sophie Dahl, “with an un-airbrushed spare tyre”, on the cover in 2000, and rejoices in Slink’s aesthetic choices.
However, it’s still a hard world out there for size 14-and-above women. Mary Katrantzou, the creator of the biggest print revolution since the 80s, is herself a size 16-18, and has publicly worried that her design choices exclude women of her own size.
Slink might make it to Australia if it takes off – will you be reading?
Image: Editorial in Slink Magazine.
It’s not a surprise to find something carbon-copied from the catwalks in a celebrity’s collection.
After all, that’s the worst-kept secret in fashion: a celebrity picks out something from their closet that they like, and designers ‘repurpose’ it into mass-production. Voila! Mass-market celebrity fashion is born.
However, Jessica Simpson’s fashion line – which is reportedly worth nearly $1bn – is garnering a little uncomfortable attention, after some shoppers noticed that her latest neon platforms are basically identical to Louboutins from last season.
The same strap arrangement, colours, heel – everything is in place for Louboutin to sue for intellectual property. And he likely will, as he’s already shown that he protects his designs fiercely.
Famously, he’s currently embroiled in a series of court cases to protect his famous ‘red sole’, which he argues should be copyrighted. Other designers aren’t so sure, and are insisting that putting red on the bottom of a shoe shouldn’t be a copyright issue.
Louboutin and Manolo Blahnik are the two kings of the luxury fashion shoe; alongside Jimmy Choo, they design custom beauties for most of the world’s celebrities, and both Blahnik and Louboutin currently have museum retrospectives devoted to their work.
Simpson may find herself in trouble fairly soon, unless her lawyers come up with an amazingly good excuse.
Image: Simpson and Louboutin shoes side-by-side, Simpson on the left.
