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Sideshow

Models loom larger on Europe's runways

By SHARON FINK
Published October 6, 2005

In the fashion world, where deadly serious debate is conducted over silk tulle vs. nylon tulle, this is a juxtaposition worthy of Nobel Prize-winning deep thought.

As Kate Moss, leader of the pin-thin, glassy-eyed "heroin chic" models who defined the industry in the 1990s, takes her pin-thin body to drug rehab, the spring fashion shows in Europe have been the most significant showcase yet for larger (some might say realistic-size) models.

In Paris on Tuesday, Crystal Renn, who wears a size 12 or 14, worked Jean-Paul Gaultier's show with size 0 colleagues and got the prize position of walking down the runway with the designer at the end.

In Milan last week, the schedule included for the first time a show featuring clothes size 12 and up, and all worn by models who really wear those sizes.

As one of the models noted, this only makes sense at a time when the average American woman wears a size 14.

"I just hope fashion is going to move more toward normal women, not emaciated girls," American Amber Threadgill, a size 12-14 who worked the Milan show, told Reuters.

HEY, IT'S ... LOOK AT THAT DRESS: In her Ford Models bio, Renn is listed as 5 feet 9, with measurements of 38-32-43. But when she started in the business, she dieted to be size 6 (her agent initially told her to lose about 50 pounds, she told models.com).

That was such a struggle, the Ford people finally told her to stop and be herself. And she's found major success doing just that. Renn's resume includes several shoots for Vogue (Teen and regular, American and international editions), and she is a favorite of influential fashion photographer Steven Meisel.

Her size wasn't even pointed out in the major reviews of the Gaultier show. The focus was on the clothes - and the stench of the hay Gaultier used to cover the runway.

YEAH, WHERE ARE THE FLOUR-SACK DRESSES? In Italy, the Elena Miro line wants to make stylish clothes for size 12-plus women, and it got a Milan runway show after a long campaign.

"(The) collection is about ... exalting the body to say that if you're a few (pounds) heavier than the next person, it's not a problem but rather a virtue that should be celebrated," Giuseppe Miroglio, the line's managing director, said.

In a review of the show, Reuters said the clothes incorporated many spring trends, including empire-waist dresses, and that their celebration of the womanly form included several body-hugging pieces.

But it also described them with a phrase no one would ever feel the need to throw into, say, a Calvin Klein review: "The collection steered clear of being frumpy."

IT WOULDN'T HURT KATE TO PUT ON A FEW POUNDS: This has been a notable year for more mainstream fashion in other ways, too.

When Jessica Simpson rolled out her clothing line, she did jeans especially for the plus-size chain Avenue. (Her PR company told Sideshow she did it because her fans come in all shapes and sizes.) Emme, the best-known plus-size model in the United States, introduced a line of clothing for women of all sizes on home shopping monolith QVC.

Models know their part of the industry still has progress to make in connecting with the masses.

"There are so many impossibly thin models out there," said Monica Ferro, who also was in the Milan show.

"We're pretty different, larger than them, but also," she laughed, "larger than life."

Sharon Fink can be reached at 727 893-8525 or fink@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 6, 2005, 01:13:15]