Why Is Size Inclusivity Still a Struggle?
Even though the body positivity movement has been a constant within society over the past ten years, many plus-size celebrities struggle to find designers who will dress them for events. These celebrities who have spoken up claim that designers are only willing to lend out sample sizes, but plus-size discrimination is a multi-faceted issue. In addition to designers, many celebrity stylists are guilty of only wanting to work with slim clients rather than have a diverse range of clientele. Moreover, the modern fashion industry was built on exclusivity and luxury, and according to those who make the industry go ‘round, plus-size individuals don’t fit into their impossible-to-maintain beauty standards.
When doing a simple Google search about plus-size celebrities speaking out about designers who refuse to dress them, at least ten articles appear on the first page of the search engine. The articles appearing were published by reputable sources such as Business Insider and Harper’s Bazaar, which proves that this issue is not swept under the rug and hidden away, but merely ignored by those who can make a difference. For example, Beyonce, one of the most widely-known celebrities of the last two decades, has even struggled to find designers willing to work with her and her former girl group Destiny’s Child. In 2016 during her acceptance speech after winning the CFDA Fashion Icon Award, the hit singer detailed her band’s issues with finding a fashion house or designer that wanted to work with “four black, country, curvy girls.” To further her point of both a lack of diversity and size inclusivity within the styling sphere, Beyonce goes on to mention that her mother and uncle made the girl group’s costumes when they were starting out since her mother was turned away from every showroom she approached when searching for a designer to work with Destiny’s Child.
Destiny’s Child
Moreover, the smoke and mirrors that are the fashion industry’s support of size inclusivity is apparent to another celebrity: Jennifer Hudson. The actress shared in 2011 that after she lost a significant amount of weight, numerous designers were approaching her with styling options for awards shows and other events. In addition to dresses and various ensembles being offered to her, Hudson mentions that designers were willing to give her free bags, shoes, and accessories, none of which were even mentioned to her prior to her weight loss. Hudson’s experience proves that the fashion industry views plus-size individuals as unworthy of the same treatment as thinner people.
Jennifer Hudson
While stylists should advocate for their plus-size clients to be on an even playing field with their slimmer clients, celebrity stylists, such as Jessica Paster, are contributing to the plus-size discrimination. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter regarding Leslie Jones’ struggles with finding a designer to dress her for her own movie premiere, Paster said “She should have known four to five months ago the date of [the] premiere, and said, 'I'm not a sample size, I need to go to designers early or buy myself a dress.' Don't be blaming designers and saying they don't like you.” Even though Leslie Jones was able to work with Christian Siriano for her movie premiere, it is troubling that a seasoned industry professional, such as Jessica Paster, would blame Leslie Jones for having these difficulties when she could have advocated for Jones.
Jessica Paster
Over the last five years, only a handful of designers have made the effort to expand their clientele to celebrities of all sizes, one of them being the aforementioned Christian Siriano, in addition to Prabal Gurung. While many applaud these designers, it has been over a decade since the body positivity movement began, which makes the short list of inclusive designers all the more baffling. Christian Siriano describes this disheartening situation best, “It shouldn't be exceptional to work with brilliant people just because they're not sample size. Congrats aren't in order, a change is.”