A Movement Or A Moment?: Plus-Sized Beauty In India

(L) Julianna James for Lea Clothing Co; Apoorva Rampal for Huemn (R)
(L) Julianna James for Lea Clothing Co; Apoorva Rampal for Huemn (R)(L) @leaclothingco; @_huemn (R)

From awful dieting regimes to awful exercising regimes, the beauty culture of the 90s and 00s fed us a toxic standard to aspire to, rather than to identify with. Supermodel Kate Moss’ ‘nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’ rhetoric was a damaging notion to deal with for anyone who did not fit the rigid mould of size. However, with the start of the social media-led body-positivity movement, as well as upcoming models from Tess Holliday and Paloma Elsesser in the West, to Sakshi Sindwani (@stylemeupwithsakshi) and Sobia Ameen (@sobia93) here at home in India, plus-size couture is having a moment. But is a moment all it is? Or can it be a movement?

Through the years gone by there has been very little representation of plus-size bodies at any couture week around the world, and India is no different. However, this year’s FDCI x Lakmé Fashion Week saw a sudden influx of plus-size models and influencers taking part in a variety of runway shows, from influencer Sakshi Sindwani at Shantanu & Nikhil and Manish Malhotra, and content creator Apoorva Rampal (@appoorva.rampal) at Huemn. This was a nice break from the sample size, cookie-cutter body types we have become so used to seeing during fashion weeks.

(L) Varshita Thatavarthi For Sabyasachi @sabyasachiofficial; (R) Apoorva Rampal For Huemn @_huemn

The start of sample sizes can be attributed to the fabric shortage during and after World War II, where designers relied on smaller bodies to optimize profitability. This sample has now become fashion’s ‘golden ratio’, relying on their models to fit the US sizes of 0 to 4. While there is now a movement to raise that size to an average of US 6 to 8, this still does not help Indian women, thanks to a lack of standardised sizing across the world. Any woman who has attempted to shop at Zara and H&M will tell you that trying to find clothes that fit them is an impossible ordeal. These clothes are meant to fit people of a different body structure than Indian women, who are generally more bottom-heavy.

Apart from sample sizing, Indian couture designers, especially those for Indian formal attire, have started charging a ‘fat tax’ to their above-sample size customers. A fat tax is a difference in amount between ‘plus-sized’ and ‘regular-sized’ clothing, either ready-made or made-to-measure. The discourse was raised on Instagram by journalist Aishwarya Subramanyam (@otherwarya) and industry watchdog Diet Sabya (@dietsabya). The designers include plus-size models in their runway shows, and then, in the same breath, are mistreating their customers by asking them to pay more for the same outfits and humiliating them in the process. Chalked up to ‘extra fabric’ or ‘extra embroidery’, plus-size women are discouraged and even shunned from wearing these outfits. Through Diet Sabya’s crowd-sourced horror stories of average-sized Indian women, we have realised that there has been no actual change in business ethics or pricing policies for couture brands, and most of their ‘inclusivity’ is simply tokenistic and one-note.

(L) Sobia Ameen for Raw Mango @sobia93; (R) Apoorva Rampal for House of Masaba @houseofmasaba

Furthermore, there is a distinct gap between male and female plus-size models. While the designers are praised for having the tokenistic fat girl in their show, there is no such praise for the male plus-size models that are struggling to make ends meet. Barring a few international brands like ASOS and Savage X Fenty, visualisations for plus-size male models are few and far between. In India, size-inclusive brands aLL, Myntra, and late designer Wendell Rodrigues are a few of the non-couture brands advocating for plus-size men. There is still stigma and stereotype attached to the idea of inclusivity and since modelling is a women-dominated area, it is easier for a monopoly to form. Through social media, plus-size women have been able to reach the ramp much faster, especially since there are so few plus-size male fashion influencers. Women also tend to have better collections, whereas men are often relegated to the basics. Lesser compensation than regular-sized models also plays a part in the lack of representation that we see.

So after all of this, are Indian couture brands truly ready for plus-size individuals, from the ramp at fashion week to the brand’s atelier? Or does that remain a pipe dream for the foreseeable future? It has taken so many years for even the stage we’re at currently to be achieved through the herculean efforts of a few. The ball is now in the designers’ court. The question is now whether they’re going to be able to create clothes that flatter all body types, taking into account the average body form of an Indian person as well as negotiating their prices to be uniform and fair to people of all shapes and sizes.

As consumers, we have been conditioned to see only one type of body, and our instinctive reaction to seeing anything else is borderline horror. The task is to break that conditioning and mentality, which is going to take a long time. It is important for people to be seen and represented and while there have been strides forward, there is still a long way to go.

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