Sometimes it seems as though the fashion industry is more inclusive than ever before. In the past year, there's been an increase in the number of mature models fronting ad campaigns and more people with disabilities on the runways of New York Fashion Week. Right now, eight black women are featured on September magazine covers.
But there are definitely major strides to be made.
We flipped through the September issue fashion editorials of seven major magazines -- Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, W, Elle, Marie Claire, InStyle and Cosmopolitan -- to see if we could find any plus-size models.
The results weren't great.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average waist size for women aged 20 and over is 37.5 inches. Depending on which retail store you consult, this translates to a slightly different pant size, but all of them qualify as plus-size. (At Gap, a 37.5 inch waist is between a size 18 and a size 20, at Coldwater Creek it translates to roughly a size 16. At Lane Bryant, it's about a size 18.)
So, if the average woman is plus-size, why are there zero plus-size models in these fashion editorials?
Yeah, we're not really sure either.
Art and GIF by Tiara Chiaramonte
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