The Fashion Industry Through The Lens Of Plus-Size Models

Iman McDonnaugh

Who's That Girl:

@IamImanMB

Model

Where You've Seen Her:

Lane Bryant, Forever 21, Rebel Wilson x Angels

Her Story:

I've actually been fortunate enough to have mostly good experiences [in the industry]. And being in the side of fashion that is not ashamed of women over a size 4, I've never been criticized for being too big.

I've actually seen the other side of things where they are more worried about you losing too much weight. I came into the industry right when "plus size" was beginning to garner an audience and [had] become a "thing." So while it was a positive experience, it was also a time with a lot of trial and error...and it still is. I'm happy to be seeing more women over a size 4 in films and on red carpets, etc. Before that was happening, I always thought it was so boring to see all these women getting attention that look exactly the same. Especially as a black woman, it's exhausting and unrelatable always seeing rail thin, dyed blonde, white women on the forefront of the industry being praised for their "beauty" when you believe there's so much other beauty out there.

I think that a lot of that is changing. I feel like more and more brands are trying to incorporate larger size women into their brand, which is a good thing. But there are still plenty with the old school mind set and are too afraid to touch us. I think that it's insulting and damaging to women, young and old alike, to not be met with the beautiful reality of who they are and instead be sold a distorted image of something unattainable to be like. So I do hope the changes continue and that we as models can ever increase the discussion of it's importance so that maybe one day our daughters won't have to endure the same brainwashing.

"It's damaging to women to not be met with the beautiful reality of who they are and instead be sold a distorted image of something unattainable to be like."

I think the media doesn't help when, for example, a brand finally uses a larger woman in their ad campaign and all they can talk about is "look at them finally using a big girl! Look how diverse we are! Look how big this girl is!" If you want to be inclusive then just do it without trying to point out how different the larger girl is in comparison to the smaller girl. That's the real way I feel like it will ever become normalized. Otherwise, it's not helping normalize seeing women beyond a size 4 in ad campaigns. To me, it feels more like they're just screaming, "Look how different she is!" thereby still separating us from them, instead of all of us women being shown together as a united front. When we're all regularly being used in ad campaigns without it being a surprising newsflash is when I think the impact and inclusivity will really be its biggest. Also, when it's more than just one size 16 girl in an ad among a sea of size 2's. Let's see a size 8, 10, and 12 with a size 2 and 4 and a size 18 and over. It's the same with black women, use more than just one black woman in a sea of blonde white women and maybe I'll believe your diversity pitch.

"When we're all regularly being used in ad campaigns withouut it being a surprising newsflash is when I think the impact and inclusivity will be its biggest."

To me, being "a beautiful curvy woman" is just about the joy of being myself. Being in the plus side of the industry has allowed me to live out my dream job without having to force myself to be something I never was and never really believed in, and for that, I'm thankful.

I also realized early on the impact this has on other women who watch me and I think it's a beautiful privilege to be able to reach and impact other women so positively.

Yesss to all of these phenomenal women out here representin'! What do you think about the increase of representation in the industry? Where do you think they could be doing better?