The fashion industry couldn't ignore them forever.
An estimated 41 percent of U.S. women are larger than a size 14, making up a critical mass of buying power eager to covet clothes and, maybe, despite the recession, splurge on style. In this economy, what sense would it make to ignore millions of consumers?
Yet just 10 percent of retailers cater to them. Only 16 percent of all retail sales come from the plus-size market, according to the NPD Group, a market research firm. And plus-size women rarely grace high-fashion runways, glossy magazine covers or major ad campaigns.
No wonder, then, that when Glamour magazine published a nearly nude photo of plus-size model Lizzie Miller, who bears a belly not a six-pack, who wears a girl-next-door grin not a high-fashion glare, they were flooded with letters of praise from readers. According to Miller, models like her and others in the industry, the attention generated by the 3-by-3-inch picture proves that it's time for plus-size women to move up to fashion's forefront.
"I remember when I was younger, looking through magazines, and I would feel so out of place and so self-conscious because I didn't see anyone who looked like me," said Miller, 20, who wears a size 12 to 14. "The fact that this picture caused such a frenzy, it says that this is, obviously, something that people need to see. I'm not trying to promote obesity, and I'm not obese, but I'm also not stick thin."
Lizzie Miller in Glamour magazine's September 2009 issue.Miller, who signed with Wilhelmina Models as a plus-size model at age 13, posed for the September issue of Glamour as part of a story on women who're comfortable in their own skin. While she and other plus-size models appreciate the attention showered on the shot, they say it should be normal to see images of beautiful, full-figured women in pop culture.
Lizzie Miller: "I'm not trying to promote obesity ... I'm also not stick thin."
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