Meet Naomi Watanabe: The Body-Positive “Beyoncé of Japan”

H&M Padded Cup Swimsuit ($35)

Marysia Pink Lehi Twisted Bikini Top ($169) and Pink Lehi High-Rise Bikini Briefs ($152)

PQ Gardenia Plunge One-Piece Swimsuit ($154)

Billabong Tanline Lulu Bandeau Bikini Top ($60) and Tanlines Maui High Waist Bikini Bottoms ($56)

Kitty & Vibe Plunge Top ($52) and Cheeky Bottoms ($46)

Old Navy One-Piece Keyhole Swimsuit ($28)

Floralkini Rainbow Striped Triangle Bikini Top ($22) and Rainbow Striped Bikini Bottom ($17)

& Other Stories Gingham Seersucker Swimsuit ($69)

Aerie Printed Ruffle Scoop Bikini Top ($30) andPrinted Ruched High Waisted Bikini Bottom ($27)

Kona Sol Ribbed Front Ring One Piece ($40)

H&M Push-up Bikini Top ($20) and Bikini Bottoms ($13)

“I love the idea of giving women a platform to show off their individuality and confidence on a stage normally reserved for the select few,” said size-inclusive and body-positive activist Hunter McGrady, who hosted the show. “I also try to use my voice to evolve the industry for the better, so when I was given this moment to take a stance on the runway, I thought it was the perfect extension of my ongoing message.”

In partnership with Create & Cultivate, this show added DSW to the growing list of brands “walking the talk” of diversity in the fashion industry. The designer shoe warehouse opened their casting call to their community of customers and received over 4,000 submissions. The ten women selected, along with five style influencers and five DSW associates, represented diverse ages, ethnicities, cultures, gender identities, abilities, and more. All 20 models will also be featured in DSW’s Fall campaign.

“After this show, I’m confident and hopeful that fashion labels will follow DSW’s lead by inviting everyday women to be an accurate representation of their brand identity,” said McGrady.

The Sports Illustrated model didn’t start her career as the curvy woman she is now. After dieting and starving herself to maintain the typical beauty standard, McGrady realized her body wasn’t built to be thin. Since then, she’s worked to inspire other women to embrace their God-given bodies reminding them that they are #AllWorthy.

“I not only want to see positive change during NYFW, but I want to see it everywhere and every day in the fashion industry so that inclusivity becomes the norm for our society,” said McGrady.

(Photos Courtesy Smith House Photo)

Monica Barbaro loved working with Timothée Chalamet on 'A Complete Unknown.'

Monica revealed in a Rolling Stone interview that she met Timothée Chalamet a week before filming — and that he was already more-or-less in character. "The first time we met was a music rehearsal," she tells Brit + Co exclusively. "So we just really launched right into it, which was nice because I admired his work so much from afar and any level of intimidation that I may have had, I could just sort of funnel into music prep, which was great."

"It was a beautiful experience of getting to hear our voices harmonize as these characters and hear the accompaniment of our guitars," she continues. "And we were able to kind of like anchor ourselves in the music and have sort of a meeting of minds that was maybe a little more similar to Joan and Bob because they met in the music scene as already very proficient musicians. So that was a beautiful magical day. And then we like launched right into filming."

Monica Barbaro (who you'll recognize from Top Gun2) stars as musician Joan Baez, and even though Monica had to learn how to play guitar for the role, you'd never guess just by watching the film. She carries herself with such confidence and ease that I'd have believed she'd been playing her whole life. And the fact her voice sounds like a Disney princess is just the cherry on top.

"I'm not a singer, I didn't play guitar," she says. "So there was sort of this introductory level thing going on where I just had to figure out how to form my hands and in some way, I thought about how she might have done that at like 14, I think, when she first picked up guitar. But that was just like an overhaul of everything — I mean, all my time just poured into that training."

She was doing her own research, but also worked with vocal coach Eric Vetro, who's also worked with Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, and Shawn Mendes. "He encouraged me to consider what the lyrics of songs meant to her," Monica says. "Because the best musicians are storytellers and that's one of the best things about he renditions of these folk songs is you feel the story of the song."

And because of that, focusing on the lyrics "was also a part of the character development. So there were sort of siloed things like voice, guitar research, and then her speaking voice," she says. "And then all of those things started to just kind of like meld, you know. You have to play and sing at the same time and tell a story and do it from the perspective of Joan. And so so they just sort of over time kind of like bridged."

But no matter how much prep Monica, Timothée, and Elle Fanning (who stars as Sylvie Russo) did for the film, they still had to film in the middle of New York City, which came with its own set of 2024-specific challenges. "It was interesting to be filming and have people sneaking videos and posting them on the internet," she says, admitting that she "really just tried to turn all of that off to the best of my ability."

The film highlights the tension between celebrity and fame, considering we meet Bob Dylan right before he becomes, well, Bob Dylan. "It's a privilege to have to have so much attention and excitement on a project and I appreciate the intent, but you kind of just sort of turn it off a little bit and disengage," Monica says, "especially when you're talking about just a very different kind of fame in the sixties."