I recently sent an e-mail to a locally-published fashion magazine, asking them whether they featured not-well-known designers in their mag and now one can get in. I also asked whether they'd feature designers that were not considered "standard." I did receive a reply the next day, from a section editor that all one had to do was send in a look book, but no answer as to whether they'd ever show work by designers who are exclusively plus or petite. My guess is that it isn't likely, esecially for petite, since it's difficult to find models for these clothes (they can always use a volunteer/intern, I guess, but what are the chances of them having an intern or regular staff member who is a petite size 2 or a plus size 12?). There is a chance that the editor completely ignored that part of the question. I have asked a fashion/beauty editor at another magazine the same thing, and her relply was the standard "we use tall, skinny models because that's who fits the samples designers send us" without considering that there are a handful (abeit small) of designers who don't size on tall, skinny girls (they never say that "if designers send us clothes that fit shorter (or larger) women, then we'd use shorter (or larger) models.)
Most people say that the industry will continue to use tall, (very) skinny models as long as Anna Wintour is in charge of US Vogue. And Anna Wintour is Anna Wintour. Nothing will change her mind. I am sure that had I written to Vogue, my email would have been deleted unopened, as soon as it was sent. This is sad, as these "specialty sized" designers (and they really shouldn't be called "specialty sized" because so many women are under 5'4" and/or can fit into petite sizes even if taller than 5'4". If we go by stats alone, the average woman is actually a petite plus) will never really get the attention that they deserve to get, just because they do not work with what the mainstream considers "normal" or "fashion." Many of these designers work very hard, but get no further than local recognition, and at the most, recognition from national/international magazines with a very small niche market (Tamiece, for example, has been featured in Audrey, a US based beauty and fashion magazine catering to the Asian communities). But they really SHOULD be featured in more mainstream magazines too. It'll only help them. Why SHOULDN'T these designers be in Glamour, Vogue or Harper's Bazaar? If so many women have written into magazines, asking why they don't use different sized models, then maybe they should try to feature designers who do non-tall/skinny designs (though the excuse I often get is that magazines only want to feature items that one can get hold of all over. However, many of these designers DO sell online, so yes, you CAN get them in a variety of places, even if they only sell at stores in one or two boutiques.).
