Plus-Size models prove fashion is finally ready to embrace larger women

In December, Famespy presented the first images from V Magazine’s January 2010 issue featuring plus-size model.  One Size Fits All spotlighted plus-size model Crystal Renn, 23, pictured alongside traditionally slim rival, Jacquelyn Jablonski, 17, “creating quite a sizeable comparison,” to prove that “fashion can flatter any figure.”

Could 2010 be the year that curves finally come of age? V Magazine certainly thinks so and has dedicated an entire issue to women of different shapes and sizes. The fashion glossy is making a big splash in 2010 by moving away from skinny cover girls (Natalie Portman, Miranda Kerr) and switching to plus-size models in the first installment of the new year dubbed “The Size Issue.”

“Big, little, pint-size, plus-size – every body is beautiful. And this issue is out to prove it,” editor-in-chief of V magazine Stephen Gan said. After all, plus-size models are really just normal-size people deemed “plus” by fashion’s extreme standards.

‘The Size Issue’, which hits news stands on January 14, features a high-fashion photo shoot styled by Nicola Formichetti and starring curvy bombshells Candice Huffine, Marquita Pring, Michelle Olson, Tara Lynn, and Kasia P.

The images, by Norwegian fashion photographer Solve Sundsbo, see the models wearing everything from figure-hugging Agent Provocateur bodysuits to cut-out Gucci swimsuits. One photo features a model wearing lingerie, while another dramatically poses in nothing but a slick of red lipstick. The girls unashamedly flaunt full thighs, stomach rolls and love handles – things that would normally be airbrushed out on a high fashion magazine.

Runway vs. Realway

Gucci Runway Show, Spring 2010

Photographer Solve Sundsbo told V, “I loved the opportunity to show that you can be beautiful and sexy outside the narrow interpretations that normally define us.”

Who can forget the media storm surrounding British designer Mark Fast’s London Fashion Week show in September, after his stylist allegedly walked out over a decision to use plus-size models.

It seems that the fashion world is slowly making progress by beginning to accept more varied body shapes, and that there remains plenty of opportunity to embrace women that really look like women.

The full feature appears in V magazine, on sale from January 14 www.vmagazine.com