Denver Fashion Week was something that I was very glad I got to be a part of. I only had time in my schedule to attend the opening show, but it gave me a taste of what Denver Fashion Week is all about. The angle that I chose to take when attending this show is to see if the designers leaned more toward the body positivity movement rather than sticking to the “typical model” body, that being stick thin and no curves. I was extremely happy to see that DFW did take the route of incorporating multiple different body types.
An interview that I had with Amara Martin, the executive director of Dress for Success Denver. Dress for Success Denver was the DFW nonprofit partner. Martin offered me some insightful information about the fashion world, given she has walked in both Denver Fashion Week and New York Fashion week.
Interview
Me: “What was your favorite part about walking in the shows?”
Martin: “The response of the audience. I am a little bit older and so, you know, when I started modeling 20 years ago, I, um, plus size, it was not something that was as accepted as it is today. Back then you were a dime a dozen. You could never get more than one girl who was plus size. So, I would be in a show with 20 straight models and then here I come and the response of the audience when they see me, oh my goodness gracious. They were screaming and shouting and cheering and they are like she looks just like me.”
Me: “That’s awesome, that’s really awesome. Since you have been modeling for so long could you tell me about the direction that you might think the fashion world would take with plus size models.”
Martin: “It is definitely a lot better than it has been when I first started modeling. In fashion you have a couple different worlds. You have a high couture fashion and then you have TikTok, right. The good thing about TikTok is anybody can get on TikTok and model and do whatever they want, which I think is a wonderful thing. So, with these social media platforms, we are no longer looking for all our fashion knowledge from couture fashion houses. We are expanding the idea of what beauty is. We are not going to see a lot of plus size models in the super high up fashion and that is okay because there is a niche foe everything. Ashley Graham closed out the show for John Galiano and that was a huge deal.”
Me: “Since you have walked in both New York and Denver Fashion week did you notice a difference in the audience’s response to you?”
Martin: “The people in Denver were so nice. People in Denver are very, very nice and very warm and very fun and a lot more relaxed. Uh – the people in New York are different. They are, used to fashion and fashion decerning. They are just very serious about their craft; I mean they are New Yorkers! Denver is an overall more accepting place for plus size models, New York is getting there, and they might not ever fully get there, which is okay, that is what niches are for.”
Getting into the actual show that I attended. Denver Fashion Week is not as serious as New York Fashion Week. It allows models to gain experience, it allows designers to get their names out there. In the show there was a good mix of plus size models and “normal” models. There were still more “normal models” than plus size, but almost every designer included a plus size model into their collection. I wrote about three of the designers who I saw included a good mix of both sized models on my Instagram, feel free to read the posts below.
The overall show I was very impressed with the incorporation of different beauty standards, gender, and size. The audience responded well to every model, but when a plus size model would walk out, the audience would get even louder. That observation alone made it clear that people are becoming more and more excepting of plus size people. The body positivity movement has made girls and women who are not stick thin learn to love themselves. It is incredible for young girls to see these women as role models, as an inspiration to embrace and love their body at every stage. As Martin mentioned during the interview people are becoming more and more excepting of plus size models, but something I have noticed is no one is talking about the inclusion of plus size models. After reading the 303 magazine follow up article of the opening night, the author did not point out the inclusion of plus size models, or diversity. Does this mean the concept of plus size models is already excepted and does not need to be pointed out? Or is it something people still feel uncomfortable bringing to light? Read my article going more in-depth about this idea.
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