Make room for larger women!

A fashion store owner is calling for the UK fashion industry to open up runways to models of all sizes in a bid to save generations of children from anorexia and millions of women from shopping hell.

Janet Tappin Coelho, who runs the west London fashion store and website, Popozao, told The Voice that the UK should introduce a campaign similar to the US based Walk the Catwalk campaign.

The campaign aims to get designers, fashion schools and fashion houses to stop making and modelling only small sizes. It also wants models and clothes of all sizes showcased on popular runways, including at London Fashion Week.

“It is time to see bigger role models on the catwalk so we can better reflect what is going on in our world and our lives,” said Coelho, who sources Brazilian jeans and other clothes for all women with curves.

“This is probably the way forward for the industry here. We need to recognise that most women are not size 8 or 10. The industry needs to recognise that women’s shapes are changing.

Women of all races have curves and healthy bums. They are voluptuous and proud of their shapes. It needs to cater for them,” she added.

Walk the Catwalk

Walk the Catwalk was started by US-based plus size models, Diane Pellini and Liis Windischmann. They said on their website that it was time for designers to put what they have labelled ‘the forgotten zone’ meaning regular sizes 14 to 20 on the dressing models and on the catwalk.

Coelho said such a move would also help save thousands of children who starve themselves to reflect false body images perpetuated in the industry.

“It is a positive way to encourage children not to be ashamed of their bodies and to discourage them from going on bulimic and anorexic diets. It will make them proud of themselves,” she said.

Many black women would agree that there is a need for larger sizes on the catwalk and in all shops.

Among them is curvy size 14 Chantelle Eccleston, a 25-year-old sales assistant blessed with both bust and bum, who told The Voice last week she sometimes has problems finding things that fit-especially jeans.

“The jeans will fit the legs but stop halfway across my bum. It annoys me,” she said.

And there’s no winning among the popular ranges.

“If they cover me up, there will be a gap at the back or even at the front depending on the style, or they are too long,” added Chantelle, who is 5ft 2 inches with wide hips, a rounded bum and a 36DD bra cup size.

Karen Scott, a 38-year-old care assistant who buys size 12 to 14, added that skirts end up being too narrow for her 41 inch hips while trousers and jeans fall short on her 5ft 8 inch frame.

Coelho said they have these problems because clothes are often made for and modelled by slim white women.

While some fashion chains and shops cater to curvy women, many others seem to forget that many women are over size 12 and come with curves.

“If a lot of people are around, I find it very humiliating to ask for size 22,” said voluntary worker, Pamela Montcrieffe.

The 59-year-old mum of three is a size 18 but has to buy size 22 tops and dresses just to accommodate her huge ‘double J’ bust size. “You have to dig around for a size 22 or go online,” she said.

No Sympathy

But not everyone is sympathetic. A size 8 woman told The Voice : “I have no sympathy for them.

There is a thin line between curvy and fat. If they are size 22, they are fat! Why should we encourage obesity? Certain things only look good in certain shapes.

Who wants to see a size 22 woman wearing hot pants and skinny jeans? If they weren’t stuffing their faces with chips everyday, they would lose some weight and the clothes would fit!”

But Coelho argued that curvy women are not necessarily fat, that many women like their bodies and deserve to have access to well fitting clothes that reveal that women over size 16 are sexy too!

BY Trudy Simpson

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