Well firstly, is there such a thing as enough diversity? The answer is no, never. There could always be more.
But after last year’s Afterpay Australian Fashion Festival being called out for not having enough diversity in their participating shows, this year’s AAFW 2022 has been a huge improvement. And as a plus size model myself, I love to see it.
The first show I attended this week was Gary Bigeni’s comeback show, and it was truly a fabulous and refreshing way to start off AAFW, with diversity of all shapes, sizes, ethicities and genders gracing the runway in colourful clothes.
In the shows that have followed in the past few days, it’s been amazing to see size diversity on almost every runway. Most of the mainstream fashion shows featured at least one to two plus size models, along with ethnic diversities and a little bit of gender diversity sprinkled throughout.
Although it’s such a huge improvement from last year, showing progression in real-time, and mainstream designers are starting to design and show off pieces of their collection on models outside the sample size category, I absolutely wish that it was more prevalent within the fashion industry in general.
For me personally, as an audience member, a lover of fashion and a plus size model, there have only been a few looks from each show that I could see suiting my body shape. But then, maybe that’s okay? I think that diversity means designing and catering for all shapes and sizes, which includes thin, as well.
It’s okay for a brand’s collection to feature a few pieces that really only work on thinner bodies, as well as a few that are better suited to flatter, curvier bodies — but it’s also important to remember that you can style pieces differently from how they are in a show. For example, you may not want to wear low-rise pants with a crop top… and you don’t have to! You could easily pair a low-rise pant with a long flowy shirt, which may suit your preferences better.
As far as diversity in fashion goes, it’s clear that the ideal size in fashion is still a sample size, given that the large majority of models walking in shows are of sample size. While you might feel passionately about this changing (like me), we should absolutely acknowledge that it’s happening. No societal change ever happens quickly, and from no plus size models last year, to a plus size model in almost every show — size diversity in fashion is actually progressing pretty quickly.
At the helm of diversity this AAFW 2022, were the Indigenous Fashion Projects Runway, which celebrated five aboriginal designers, and the Adaptive Clothing Collection show, featuring designers JAM the Label, and Christina Stephens, both who design clothes for physically disabled people and those that struggle with mobility.
Each model on the runway had a physical disability, walking to a voiceover of them speaking about why visibility and diverse fashion is so important, and how their particular outfit made them feel.
It was such a beautiful representation of diversity at its core that I cried. CRIED! I had to furiously wipe the tears away in the front row.
And if we (me especially) are feeling good emotions, that must be a sign of progression, right? I think we’re moving in the right direction, and with so much progression since last year; I can’t wait to see what 2023 has in store.
