Curvy Model Protest at London Fashion Week
London Fashion Week Begins With a Body-Positive Protest
The first day of London Fashion Week kicked off in dramatic style on Friday morning, as a group of models, diversity campaigners and social media influencers protested for greater inclusivity across the UK fashion industry. The group, put together by retailer Simply Be (which caters to sizes 12-32), was led by model Hayley Hasselhoff and included body positive influencers like Meghan Jayne Crabb, Sonny Turner, and Callie Thorpe.
The group posed outside of the LFW show space wearing lingerie, holding signs that called into question the lack of curves at LFW, and encouraged women not to compromise, regardless of size. The group also made an appearance on the busy junction at London's Oxford Circus, sporting denim jackets that bore messages of inclusivity and body positivity, like "Your size, no compromise", and "Want it? Wear it."
This isn't the first time a retailer has used London Fashion Week to draw attention to the lack of curves on the catwalk. However, unlike 2015's "skinny bird watchers" stunt from Taking Shape (which only succeeded in dividing women of different sizes even more, by body-shaming slim models) this campaign did seem rooted more in total inclusivity, simply asking for more body shapes representation across the industry, and a better fit and trend offering in a wider range of sizes. It follows on from last year's Curve Catwalk, also organised by Simply Be.
