Felicity Hayward’s style debut got here in 2012
London:
Felicity Hayward is not going to miss a single present at London Trend Week, which begins on Friday, watching every mannequin and counting the variety of plus-size girls on the catwalks. For this influencer, so pleased with her XXL form, “magnificence does not have a measurement”.
Hayward’s style debut got here in 2012 when, to her shock, she was noticed in London by a widely known photographer.
She has since fronted a number of promoting campaigns and develop into identified for her work in broadening the illustration of girls in style. The hashtags #selflovebringsbeauty and extra just lately #includingthecurves proved successful on social media.
Hayward has additionally discovered time to launch her e book “Does My Butt Look Huge in This?: A Physique Constructive Manifesto”, which includes a photograph of her in a decent leopard-skin gown on the quilt.
Hayward, who grew up in a village within the east of England, began her work life removed from the world of style, educating autistic youngsters.
She additionally labored in a bar within the night to earn more cash and it was there that photographer Miles Aldridge, who was searching for a blonde, curvy lady, approached her.
Having studied his work at college, she seized the chance, agreeing to the 20-hour shoot.
“When it was printed it went viral,” defined Hayward.
“The photographer had by no means used plus-size fashions or a curvy lady in his work, he at all times used very, very skinny girls.”
Issues shortly snowballed, with a modelling company getting in contact.
“I assumed it was a prank,” she stated. “I used to be put into a spot the place women and girls like me did not actually have an area.”
Trend journal British Vogue printed an article about her in July 2013, entitled “Bringing Again the Bombshell”.
She has since achieved promoting campaigns for the beauty model Mac, The Physique Store and made the covers of Glamour and ID, amongst others.
Now aged 35, Hayward calls herself an influencer, and it was on this capability that she was invited to quite a few style exhibits. She nonetheless selected to boycott London Trend Week in 2019.
“They had been utilizing me to be on the entrance row… to offer the publicity for his or her manufacturers,” she stated.
However most of the manufacturers didn’t produce garments in her measurement, so she reasoned: “In case you do not do my measurement with ought to I assist you?”
Any more, she solely bodily goes to the style exhibits of manufacturers providing garments in her measurement, which is a US measurement 16.
As a substitute she follows tons of of style exhibits in New York, Milan and Paris on the web, counting the variety of curvy fashions.
New York normally fares finest, however she solely noticed 31 plus-size fashions in February’s exhibits, in contrast with 49 in September 2022, out of a complete of round 3,000, in line with her estimates.
In London, 71 plus-size fashions hit the catwalk in February, in contrast with 45 the earlier season, whereas in Paris she counted 40 curvy fashions.
She has vowed to hold on her campaign to make style “extra inclusive”.
“Trend is trend-based, our bodies are usually not,” she stated.
However the state of affairs is “significantly better that 10 years in the past”, she added, and the physique positivity pattern has properly and actually taken maintain.
However there’s a flip facet, she warned — manufacturers will parade one or two plus-size fashions with out providing garments bigger than US measurement 9.
Hayward additionally took goal at actuality TV stars the Kardashians, and the cultural affect they’ve.
“Instantly arses are humongous, waist are tiny, lips are enormous, they usually’re saying that that is all pure,” she stated, accusing them of making “a false narrative” about girls’s our bodies.
“I despise what they’ve achieved to the physique picture,” she added.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)