You Won’t Believe What Percent of Models Are Actually the Size of an Average Woman
There has been a lot of discussion over the last few years about the models representing the fashion brands we know + love to shop. We won’t say their bodies aren’t reflective of “real women” because, of course they are! Women come in all shapes and sizes and that’s what’s awesome about us. What we will say is that more often than not, model’s bodies are significantly slimmer than the literal average size of women in America and beyond. While sites like Aerie and ModCloth have taken a beautifully bold, no Photoshop stance + body positive stance, that’s still far from common. So, how many models are *actually* the same size as the average woman? It turns out UK site The Fashion Spot recently conducted a study that reveals the exact percentage.
The Fashion Spot surveyed 422 models who modeled in Spring 2016 campaigns and found that only six plus-size women made an appearance. To clarify, by “plus-size” they mean over size 12 UK (size 8 US). In the UK, the average woman is a size 16 UK (size 10 US). Add a little math to that equation and it turns out a dismal 1.4% of women over size 12 were represented in spring fashion ads.
To make this situation even bleaker, it should be noted that all but one of those six models had been cast for plus-size labels specifically — with the exception being Aerie’s swimsuit campaign.
Fashion Spot’s study also revealed that 78% of models in 2016 ad campaigns were white, zero were transgender and only 1.2% were over the age of 50. Welp, we thought things were starting to go well in the modeling realm, but it looks as though there is A LOT of work to be done.
What do you want to see more of in the modeling industry? Share with us on Twitter @BritandCo.