The Fragility of Progress in Fashion Week
Of the 8,763 looks presented across 208 shows and presentations, 0.8 per cent were plus-size (US 14+), 4.3 per cent were mid-size (US 6-12) and 94.9 per cent were straight-size (US 0-4). That’s where we stand today on fashion’s biggest stages. Even after decades of body positivity movements, the numbers reveal how revolutionary it still feels to see a bigger body walking down a runway.
What makes this even more heartbreaking is the regression we’re witnessing. Opportunities for plus-sized models in fashion are disappearing at an alarming rate: During the spring/summer 2020 season, 86 plus-size models walked runways across all four major cities, a tremendous improvement that accounted for 2.8% of all models; by spring/summer 2025, that had plummeted. It’s like watching a door we thought was finally opening slowly creak shut again.
The fashion industry is sending a clear message, and it’s not about inclusion anymore. The lack of, quite frankly, token representation is clearing space for brands and designers and influencers actually invested in improving the state of things rather than checking off a diversity box.
The Economics of Exclusion
Here’s where it gets really frustrating. The plus-size clothing market is absolutely booming, which makes the fashion industry’s reluctance to represent bigger bodies even more bizarre. The global plus size clothing market was estimated at USD 119.4 billion in 2024. The market is expected to grow from USD 125 billion in 2025 to USD 202.4 billion in 2034, at a CAGR of 5.5%.
The industry is also showing healthy growth due to the soaring body positivity and inclusive movements that break the conventional standards of beauty. There’s actual money in representing bigger bodies authentically, yet fashion week runways tell a completely different story. It’s like watching someone ignore a gold mine while complaining about being broke.
The disconnect becomes even clearer when you look at who’s driving this market growth. The women segment accounted for 48.4% market share in 2024 and is anticipated to grow with a CAGR of 6% during the forecast period. This dominance is largely attributed to the robust and increasingly vocal body positivity and inclusivity movements, which have historically been centered around female representation.
When Social Media Becomes the Real Runway
While traditional fashion media fails us, something revolutionary is happening on our phones. In 2024, official data from over 100 plus-size influencer campaigns conducted by Influencer Matchmaker highlights the pivotal role of these influencers in the body positivity movement. Between 2022 and 2023, Facebook and Instagram saw an increase in conversations around body positivity, autonomy, and self-expression.
The influencer space has become where real representation thrives. Ashley Graham is a top plus-size influencer and a powerful voice in the body positivity movement, making her an excellent choice for campaigns centered on inclusivity and confidence. With over 20 million Instagram followers, she has cultivated a community inspired by her confidence, beauty routines, and commitment to embracing her curvy figure.
What makes social media representation feel revolutionary isn’t just the numbers – it’s the authenticity. Plus size models are not only breaking barriers in the fashion industry, but they are also making a significant impact on social media. Through their presence online, they are inspiring others to embrace their bodies and promoting a more positive and accepting social media environment.
The Mental Health Reality of Representation
Here’s where representation of bigger bodies becomes literally life-saving territory. More than 50% of adults from the US, UK, Australia, France and Germany reported experiencing weight stigma, and this isn’t just about hurt feelings. Weight stigma is a fundamental cause of health inequality. Body positivity may be a counterbalance to weight stigma. Social media is replete with weight-stigmatizing content and is a driver of poor mental health outcomes; however, there remains a gap in understanding its potential to mitigate the prevalence and impact of harmful messaging and to promote positive effects on a large scale.
Engagement in the body positivity movement is associated with higher body dissatisfaction and body appreciation in young adult women, which suggests they may be drawn to and engage in the body positivity movement as a protective or coping mechanism for body dissatisfaction. In other words, people aren’t engaging with body positivity content because they’re already confident – they’re seeking it out as emotional survival.
The Complexity of Body Positivity on TikTok
But here’s where things get complicated. This analysis examined the content of 342 body positive videos on TikTok. What researchers found wasn’t the uplifting content you might expect. The study revealed that even content tagged as body positive isn’t necessarily promoting the healthiest messages.
However, there has been some backlash against the body positivity movement on social media. For example, TikTok users have criticized body positivity videos for emphasizing appearance over everything. This has led to the rise of body neutrality as an alternative. Body neutrality shifts the perspective from loving one’s body to body functionality. The goal is to accept one’s body without judgment and to put one’s focus on what the body can do rather than what it looks like.
The Intersectionality Problem
When we talk about bigger bodies feeling revolutionary, we can’t ignore that some bigger bodies are more revolutionary than others. Many people identify with more than one historically marginalized or under-represented group, particularly when gender is added to the equation. Legal scholar Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw coined the term “intersectionality” to conceptualize “the way that different identity markers, such as race, gender, sexuality, and class, interact and affect each other.”
For media makers, “shows and movies that attempt to lift up marginalized communities without thinking about intersectionality are only perpetuating different systems of prejudice and oppression.” A thin white woman might get body positivity points for showing her stretch marks, while a fat Black woman faces entirely different levels of scrutiny and judgment.
Young Black girls are among the highest consumers of social media, and their identities are being supported in ways that are mirrored among other non-Black youth, such as elevating self-esteem and peer affirmations. But because of a long-standing history of stereotypic media portrayal of the young Black female (e.g., nurturing, aggressive, hypersexualized), these messages and stereotypes have translated onto social media that makes identity exploration increasingly complex. This exemplifies that exposure to an online space helps to amplify marginalized youths’ voices, but also amplifies the systemic issues surrounding the Black community today that plays a significant role in racial identity exploration.
The Retail Revolution That’s Actually Working
While fashion week disappoints, something genuinely revolutionary is happening in retail spaces. Fashion retailers like ASOS and H&M are expanding their plus size ranges and promoting healthier body images. Plus size fashion trends are on the rise, with more options available for women of all sizes. These retailers understand the importance of representation and are embracing the beauty of diverse body types.
The shift isn’t just about adding more sizes – it’s about fundamentally changing how fashion brands think about their customers. Plus size models are gaining traction in the fashion industry, with brands like ASOS and The Iconic providing more plus size ranges and launching contests to promote healthy body image. There is a growing demand for curve agencies and plus size models, with agencies like IMG Models creating separate divisions for plus size models. Society’s mentality is shifting towards acceptance and body positivity, with many brands promoting the concept of ‘fit not thin’ and celebrating women’s curves and healthy body types.
The Historical Context We Can’t Ignore
To understand why bigger bodies still feel revolutionary, we need to zoom out and look at how recent all of this really is. Did you know that the term “body positivity” emerged in the 1960s when people in marginalized bodies – fat, queer, non-white, and disabled – began a fat acceptance movement? Decades later, around 2012 when influencers became noteworthy public figures, the phrase took serious cultural hold as it started circulating as an empowering hashtag and general theme of discussion in online communities.
Her status as a body-positive icon launched with a 2009 Glamour feature titled “These Bodies are Beautiful at Every Size.” In 2016, she became one of the first plus-size models to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Ashley Graham’s Sports Illustrated cover was revolutionary precisely because it was the first time many people had seen a bigger body treated with the same respect and glamour typically reserved for straight-size models.
The Backlash Shows How Revolutionary It Still Is
You know something is truly revolutionary when it provokes this level of organized resistance. A contractor for the fashion industry has taken to ether claiming that “plus-sized models are going extinct.” Lynley Eiler’s assertions reflect a significant drop in featured curve models at the New York and London Fashion Weeks over the last three years.
The fact that we can track the deliberate reduction of plus-size representation shows this isn’t accidental. “Unfortunately, I think inclusion was treated like any other trend; it was probably convenient then. When inclusion gets treated as a trend rather than basic human dignity, you know we’re still in revolutionary territory.
The Global Picture of Media Representation
Media portrayals of historically marginalized ethnic and racial groups often perpetuate stereotypes that characterize these groups as deviant, threatening, or subservient. Although positive representations exist, misrepresentations remain prevalent in mainstream mass media. This extends beyond just body size to encompass all forms of marginalized identity representation.
Groups that only appear a little on TV, in movies, or the news can feel left out. Positive media representation can boost self-esteem, especially for young people from marginalized groups. When kids see people like them doing great things, it helps them believe they can do it, too. When seeing someone who looks like you in media feels exceptional rather than normal, that’s when you know representation is still revolutionary.
Conclusion: Still Revolutionary After All These Years
The representation of bigger bodies still feels revolutionary because it literally is. When less than one percent of fashion week looks feature plus-size models, when billion-dollar markets exist but major brands still won’t cast diverse bodies, when social media algorithms promote weight stigma while simultaneously hosting body positivity movements – we’re living in revolutionary times by necessity, not choice.
The revolution isn’t happening in boardrooms or on official runways. It’s happening in Instagram posts that get censored for showing bigger bodies, in TikTok videos that challenge beauty standards, in retail stores that actually stock extended sizes, and in the daily act of existing confidently in a body that society says shouldn’t be seen. Every time someone in a bigger body shows up authentically in public space, they’re committing a small revolutionary act.
What would you have guessed – that we’d still be fighting for the basic dignity of seeing diverse bodies represented in 2025?
