Who is your favorite model? Do you lean towards waif-like creatures (think Kate Moss) or do you prefer a woman with a whole lot of curves?
In Australia, believe or not, they prefer models who have a little bit of weight in them. That is not to say that plus size is the trend – although I seriously wouldn’t mind if this happened. However, Australian fashion designers have admitted that they have had to tell models that they are “too thin” and that they need to “put on more weight.”
This is quite contrary to what we are seeing in the international fashion circuit, where thin and thinner is what people want. Indeed, the pressure of going size zero seems to be getting to some Australian fashion designers. According to Damien Woolnough, the online editor of Vogue Australia, many Australian designers are now following the lead of the international community and that models AND clothes are ever shrinking.
Still, there are those who think that Australian fashion will be able to resist the international trend. Priscilla Leighton Clark, the owner of Priscilla’s Modelling Agency and judge on Australia’s Next Top Model, says that she thinks that her fellow Australians prefer sporty bodies rather than pole thin ones. As such, she thinks that the country will be able to resist the “zero size pressure.”
I really hope so. I may not live down under and may not be affected by what happens in the fashion world there, but hey, realistic sizes are always my thing. After all, not everyone can be a size zero, right?