• Michaela Stark, designer and artist: "I call attention to the parts of the body that we were taught to be ashamed of"

  • Katja Eichinger, the German expert who dissects trends: "Despising fashion is sexist"

  • The musician Pharrell Williams, new designer of the men's line of Louis Vuitton

What is a model for?

Marie Vernet

(1825-1898) is considered the first model in history.

Her husband,

Charles Frederick Worth

- the father of Haute Couture -

used

it to display garments to her clients in her distinguished salon.

Since then, models have had a largely

aspirational role,

in constant feedback with the

beauty ideal

of their time (who came before, the chicken or the egg, the beauty ideal or the model, is yet to be determined). ).

An ideal where an X

body weight

has always been central.

Ok, so now the opposite is happening.

Models want to look like you.

You and I, with our imperfections (today singularities) and our extra kilos (which today are not) are the ideal.

Hold.

We have reached this situation after the advent of social networks,

influencers,

body

positivity, the explosion of

curvy

models

and the demonization of fatphobia.

As researchers

Marco Pedroni

(Associate Professor at Italy's eCampus University) and his colleague

Maria Paola Pofi

explain in an academic paper on the rise of curvy bloggers

,

there has been "a gradual increase in interest in the plus-size phenomenon" and the relationship between

oversize

fashion

and the fight against discrimination "has been consolidated".

Ashley Graham and Zach Miko, pioneers

Before that, a real milestone had taken place in 2016.

Ashley Graham

became the first plus-size model to appear on the cover of the legendary

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue,

where in the past only the slim and perfectly shaped were admitted.

But something was missing: incorporating men into the process.

According to

David Vivas,

founding partner of the MadModels agency, “there have always been plus-size models;

what has been able to change is that they now occupy a more important place in fashion.

Before they had a more commercial profile, they did not do fashion editorials.

Come on, maybe you saw them in a screw ad, but not in a

GQ

production

.

And that is why 2016 is also considered the year zero of the top male modeling in the

brawn

(big) category by the hand of the American

Zach Miko

(33 years old, 1.99 meters, 124.7 kilos), an actor and writer whom the powerful agency IMG became an influential model.

Ivan Bart,

president of IMG, was already clear at that time that

body positive

would be a safe bet - «it is a relevant topic and it is on everyone's minds.

Now we have to extend the conversation to men », he would say in an interview.

Zach Miko, considered the first plus size top model.IMG

Because it was clear that if in the 60s of the last century the birth of

prêt-à-porter

had introduced a transcendental change in modeling: the need for

standard bodies

that adapted to

standardized sizing,

the start of the 21st century demanded a readjustment, because the bodies of the models to use already had almost nothing to do with the standard bodies.

Especially in the United States, where more than 70% of adults are

overweight or obese.

Fashion isn't just for the skinny

Zach Miko led the way, but it wasn't until 2020 that a truly zero-regulatory body, the opposite of aspirational, with proud stretch marks on the thorax and belly, became a model for one of the brands of the moment, Savage X Fenty

. ,

the brand backed by

Rihanna,

within the LVMH conglomerate.

It was the body of photographer

Steven Green

(1.80 meters, 110 centimeters waist, size 2XL), dressed in black underpants.

Born in Kansas, Green was a cook before he was a friar, come on,

influencer

before model.

In fact, Rihanna's team contacted him through her thriving Instagram account to ask him to pose for the signing.

The Savage X Fenty campaign instantly went viral and catapulted Green to worldwide fame.

Steven Green, in the Savage x Fenty campaign that made him famous.SAVAGE X FENTY

Still, as Green himself has stated, much remains to be done when it comes to the

acceptance of bodies

like his by

menswear creators

.

“We are only at the dawn of an era where

big guys

can be dressed in fashion.

Until now we could only wear basic t-shirts, polo shirts and cargo shorts, full stop.

Now the market is realizing that

we want trendy clothes,

more prints, more colors, more vitality.

The campaign I did with Savage X Fenty was crucial to start that conversation, but the situation has again become a needle that moves very slowly," he told

John Jones

in

The Gradual.

The industry does not react

So is the

fashion industry

really thinking more about plus-size men than before?

The designer

Eduardo Navarrete

thinks not: "I neither believe it nor see it. It is true that the catwalks are increasingly plural in sizes, ages, gender issues... luckily for everyone. And it seems to me a success , because people are not a standard or a canon or a single thing..., we are many, and more and more. Now: from there to the fact that the industry has really reacted... there is a world".

So so far we don't have a gale, but we do have an interesting breeze.

In Spain, the Chilean model

Cristian Vargas

has been a pioneer in 'giving voice' to the new generation of large male sizes.

His 1.94 meter height and 120 kilos of weight place him in

size XXL

in a T-shirt and 50-52 pants, far from Steven Green, but still "a difficult size to find, and that few brands offer," he tells YO DONA.

Vargas was going to be a basketball player, but an injury in 2012 put an end to that dream and made him lose his spirits and gain a lot of weight (in an interview he said that at that time he weighed 134 kilos).

But in 2014 he was discovered by the MadModels agency at a festival in Alicante "and there he began the adventure, working first in Spain for El Corte Ingles and then in Germany, England and the United States."

Cristian Vargas was going to be a basketball player, but an injury cut him off, and he ended up in the world of fashion.MadModels

Vargas believes that we live in a world "every day more diverse and with more nuances. It is in our hands to be empathetic with that reality, to also be more inclusive with the sizes, that what we show is representative, real, that identifies us."

Vargas, who describes himself as "minimalist, I wear basic colours, comfortable and simple clothes", believes that fashion is increasingly reacting more to society, and although, like Green, he does not speak of an industry turning towards large sizes, he has noticed, he says, "an increase in the inclusion of large sizes in certain brands".

'Fat-shism', the 'curvy' with limits

Although not everyone agrees that what the industry calls

diversity

truly is.

In their analysis of plus size

fashion blogs ,

the aforementioned Pedroni and Pofi draw attention to certain bloggers who denounce how the fashion system itself is establishing beauty standards for

curvy people

as well .

"The term

fat-shism

has emerged," the authors write, "as a protest against non-inclusive ideals being created within the plus-size market itself."

Because it never rains (or clothes are made) to everyone's liking.

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