Last week was New York Fashion Week. While most shows featured tall, slim and young professional models, Ann Taylor chose to use its employees. Though, for the most part, the women featured were quite slim, it was more realistic - none of the ladies looked like they have been starving for days. In addition, the women were closer in age to the clientele. Honestly, who really wants to wear clothing targetting a 30 year old, yet modelled by someone who is 15? I still don't quite understand designers. I guess even the ones who want to use 30 year olds use the teenagers, if not only because of availablility, but also because of peer pressure.If they dare to do something different, people will criticize (this has happened before - a Canadian designer used "real women" as models at a show back in 2009 and some of the more traditional fashion writers apparently didn't like it very much. Whatever. I kind of like the idea of this. It makes it easier for me, the client and wearer to see what things would look like on someone my shape (which is also why I like seeing short celebrities).
However, one thing I have issues with when it comes to size is, of course, the lack of talk on height. I am not actually sure how tall the women in the Ann Taylor show are (I've asked and will let everyone know when I hear back). I do know, however, that both Ann Taylor and the LOFT division have featured employees of all heights modelling various styles on their Facebook pages. They generally list not only the employee's size, but also her height. A good thing, since the FB user would have a better idea of how and what looks good on them if they're around that size. I imagine the women would have been of different heights, since they were modelling a current collection, rather than the spring/summer. It would have been nice to know whether there were actually any petite women, though. But it seems that media releases on "real people" models never talk about this.
Would you like to see more brands and designers feature non-professional models? I do, but I don't know if the rest of the industry would think that's such a great idea. It might just be too risky (and some would complain about not wanting to see 200 lb women on the runway. The thing is, for many brands, the "typical" client isn't 200+ lb and a size 20. She's more likely 130 lb and maybe a size 8 or 10. She's also closer to 5'5" or so than 5'10"). 5'5" and a size 8 is hardly FAT and SCARY. It's realistic and slim. Also, I think The Powers that Be are often much too out of touch with the clientele, and while some may think that clothes should be the main focus, clientele often have trouble imagining what things look like on them if the model's shape is nothing like theirs. But of course, that's just me
Photos courtesy of KruppNYC/Ann Taylor
