Only 30 Plus Size Models Walked at Fashion Week This Season

At the end of fashion week in New York, London, Milan, and Paris, The Fashion Spot releases a diversity report detailing the number of models of color, plus size models, transgender and non-binary models, and models older than 50 that walked at the shows.

According to their analysis of Fall 2018, more people of color were walking than in previous years. The number is still low, at 32.5 percent, but is a 2.3 percent increase from Spring 2018's numbers. As usual, New York Fashion Week was the most diverse of any city, with 37.3 percent of the models being people of color. The number of transgender and non-binary models also increased, though, again, the percentages are still very low and can be improved upon. 64 transgender and non-binary models walked, an increase from Spring 2018, which featured 49 transgender and non-binary models.

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Unfortunately, the number of plus-size models decreased for the first time since Fall 2016. Only 30 plus-size models walked in all four cities, compared to the 38 plus-size models who walked least season. Compared to the overall number of models who walk at Fashion Week events, both numbers are diminutive, making up .4 percent of total models, The Fashion Spot reports.

Most of the plus-size models who walked this season were hired by Christian Siriano and Chromat.

The number of models older than 50 also decreased. There were only 13 models total across all 4 cities. This is 14 less than Spring 2018.

These statistics are disappointing but ultimately not surprising. High fashion is notorious for valorizing thin, young, white bodies, and while the zeitgeist is changing, large scale institutional change takes a long time if it ever happens at all.

Read the whole report here.

Photo via Getty