Women of all sizes are coming together to push for high-profile fashion companies to include models with different body shapes other than what has been universally accepted in the industry for the past few decades. In the words of Graham from her autobiography, “I was never going to fit the standards others created for me. This is a move for inclusivity, representation, and overall body positivity. Models like Ashley Graham can show young women that their body type is normal and they can be celebrated in fashion, too. It seems as if a large majority of the fashion industry would support Victoria’s Secret in casting plus size models for their runway show. As a feminist who is also a businesswoman, it also made me realize the many misconceptions and excuses, leading up to now, that caused our society to plunge into this almost low-key but widespread body dysmorphic epidemic.” “As a woman, it made me realize how many other women are thirsty for representation. “It was definitely more support and exposure than I anticipated, but in a really, really good way,” Breen says to A Magazine. Not only did Ashley Graham actually repost the drawing of herself to her personal Instagram account, but many mainstream fashion publications such as Vogue wrote articles about it, as well. Breen displayed her work on her Instagram account,, and her creation went viral. She ended up designing a fantasy line of fashion illustrations called “Victoria’s Secret Plus!”. Last December, around the time of the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, Breen decided she wanted to create a world where Ashley Graham could walk the famed runway show. One of Graham’s biggest fans is Annie Breen, a student at the London College of Fashion. In her autobiography, A New Model: What Confidence, Beauty and Power Really Look Like, Graham states that “it shouldn’t be okay for designers, who can make whatever they can dream up in their heads, to keep larger women out of their clothes or for buyers to tell us how we will and won’t spend our money.” Graham has spoken out many times about the discrimination in the fashion industry that she has faced. Signed with IMG Models, Graham has covered many magazines including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour and Elle. Graham is a twenty-nine year old plus size model and body activist with an enormous following. The recently revealed list of models chosen did not include any plus size models, even though f ans of the brand have been pushing for the casting of plus size models like Ashley Graham. Victoria’s Secret definitely has a lot of pressure to make this show perfect, which is why finding their models is such a task. This show is the most talked about fashion show of the year, as it is the only televised fashion show broadcast across the world. In the past couple weeks, Victoria’s Secret has been conducting the casting process for their annual fashion show. If companies like Victoria’s Secret want to broaden their customer range, why don’t they use models in their advertising that look a little bit more like the majority of their customers? Compare that to the average American fashion model, who is between a size zero and double zero, a number reported by The University of Texas. The average American woman is a size 16, according to a 2016 study in the International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education in. You would think a multi-million dollar company like this would want to expand their target market to include more women of all shapes and sizes, right? The simple mention of the brand brings upon a mental picture of the infamous pink-striped shopping bags, extraordinary six-feet-wide angel wings and gorgeous models sporting the most sparkly lingerie you’ve ever seen. Victoria’s Secret is a household name that almost every woman will recognize. That is mainly in the hands of our favorite brands. These women definitely work hard to look the way that they do, and are not outright causing this issue in the industry. What is one thing that these four models, recently cast for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, have in common? If you answered with “the fashion industry’s favorite body type”, you’d be correct.
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