September 2009. Models with full breasts and show-stopping hips strut down the catwalk in the British designer Mark Fast’s show. The media and public’s reaction is uncomfortably strong and swift.
Women were overwhelmingly grateful for the change from the impossibly thin standard to one that looked more like them and desperately wanted more.
“I think the weight issue has been a topic of conversation in the industry for a while. But it was definitely last September’s Fashion Week that really brought the topic to the masses. You couldn’t avoid the subject after that, it was everywhere,” says Hayley Atwell, the plus-size model who inspired Fast to use real bodies in his show.
