The Big Beautiful Woman storms the runway

The fashion spotlight has now moved to the plus-sized woman. Even as heavier models took a bow at international fashion weeks this year, designers supported the plus-size movement in their work and size-zero aspirations slipped away, women across the world could finally be proud of their curves.

When a ‘plus-size-only’ runway show featured in New York fashion week some time ago, with an entire line for the full-figured women that included lingerie, accessories and wider shoes, it dawned a new era in fashion. This trend was also seen at the London Fashion week when designer Mark Fast sent only plus-sized models down the catwalk, again emphasizing that plus-sized fashion has to be addressed and appreciated.

The trend has arrived in India and designers are hard at work, creating clothes for the curvier woman. They believe that fashion has to be a reflection of the times, and since weight is a growing issue, clothes have to be created and fashioned accordingly.

Women with near-perfect body statistics may look good on billboards and magazines, but for the woman on the street, this isn’t good enough.

She needs clothes that she can look good in and enjoy without going on a crash diet for weeks on end. Says designer Sanchita Ajjampur, “This is a positive step towards body image. Retailers have been catering to the full figured woman offering her a wide range of colours, styles, embellishments and products.”

According to Ajjampur, plus-sized clothes are now far more attractive than they have ever been. “Manufacturers who neglect larger sizes are missing out on a huge retail market,” she says.

“Those who realised that there was a big market early on, began producing attractive plus ranges early. Today we’ve come a long way from the days when garments were available only in smaller sizes in most fashion houses. Now, designers everywhere offer choices in various size options catering to all categories.”

However, another noted Bangalore designer Deepika Govind believes that though it’s important for a designer to create clothes for the curvy woman, it would be awkward to show only these sizes on the runway.

“Clothes don’t look appealing on the catwalk unless they’re smaller, since everything is so magnified on stage,” she says. “The audience has to have something to aspire for and on the ramp clothes look best on women with perfect bodies.”

According to her many brands are going downwards, they create larger sizes in clothes but downsize the labels, so that women can feel good about themselves. “It’s a marketing gimmick,” says Govind. “For example, a size 8 garment would have a size 6 label so that women feel that they’ve dropped a size, are happy to buy it and shop more too.”

Govind says, "Designers cannot neglect the plus and middle-sized customer as this is their core market today.”

But trends keep changing every other year. “Body sizes in India have changed over the last two years,” adds Govind. “Many women here have hit the gym and are a lot fitter. But there is still a market for plus sized clientele.”

Though India has fewer plus-sized models, this isn’t the case in other countries. Plus-size models abroad appear in fashion magazines and walk the runways, but are often unhappy at the way ‘plus-size’ is perceived.

In India, clothes for the plus-sized woman are fewer but are definitely finding their way into every store. Says Ajjampur,
“Designers and stores have realised that catering to niche market demands is essential. Strides have clearly been made in the plus-size market, but there is still a long way to go.” She also feels that since the Indian shopper’s sensibilities and inclinations are slowly evolving, designers have to learn to embrace newer trends in fashion.