Calvin Klein may have been the designer behind the whole Kate Moss “waif” movement back in the early ’90s. It worked then, but the fashion world is evolving… and though the iconic designer is trying to move with it, he’s not quite there yet.
Why? Myla Dalbesio, a 27-year-old size 10 model, is the new face of the designer’s “Perfectly Fit” campaign. While she’s plus-size by model standards, she’s still thinner than the average woman that wears a size 12-14.
The whole thing is upsetting plenty of people, even though the “Perfectly Fit” line isn’t necessarily supposed to be a plus-size line.
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The disconnect seems to have originated with Dalbesio herself. She told Elle that she was excited to be included as a regular model in the campaign.
“I’m not the biggest girl on the market but I’m definitely bigger than all the girls [Calvin Klein] has ever worked with, so that is really intimidating,” she told the magazine. “No one even batted an eye… It’s not like [Calvin Klein] released this campaign and were like ‘Whoa, look, there’s this plus-size girl in our campaign.’ They released me in this campaign with everyone else; there’s no distinction. It’s not a separate section for plus-size girls.”
So while some of the outrage may be misplaced, it’s still astounding that a gorgeous size 10 woman is still considered “oversized” in the eyes of high fashion. We love that so many plus-size models like Dalbesio, Natalie Laughlin, Crystal Renn and Robyn Lawley get regular work, but we’d love to see one designer completely break the norm and go balls-to-the-wall with a collection and campaign featuring models who wear sizes 14, 16, 18, 20… and beyond.
There are plenty of models who could sell this type of campaign, like:
Tess Munster
Fluvia Lacerda
Nadia Aboulhosn
So, what do you say, CK? Take the conversation surrounding this campaign and turn it into something all women can get behind. It’s time.
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