Curves take on NZ Fashion Week

It’s not only Vogue that is demanding curves on the catwalk. New Zealand has caught up with the “cool to be curvy” trend and will be showcasing this new angle on fashion at this year’s New Zealand Fashion Week.

The fashion elite may disagree with this new trend, preferring their stick-thin, curve-less models. But we cannot ignore trends, and what’s hot right now is CURVES!

New Zealand Fashion week is up-sizing with it’s new curvaceous label The Carpenter’s Daughter, confirmed to show on the official schedule in September.

“Fashion Week only caters for 35 per cent of women and we cater for the other 65 per cent,” The Carpenter’s Daughter creator Caroline Marr says.

Geraldine Brophy wearing 'The Carpenters Daughter'

True to this, the stats show that 65 per cent of New Zealand Women are believed to be a size 16 or bigger, with an average dress size of 14 to 16.

Wellington award-winning actress and Dancing With the Stars finalist Geraldine Brophy has worn the label for 10 years, and applauds Fashion Week’s move. She posed for The Carpenter’s Daughter’s spring/summer 09/10 campaign, and is also now their ambassador.

This move is heartening and potentially the start of some big changes in the fashion industry. So far, the general public seems to be benefitting from the recession fashion-wise.

British Vogue editor demands realistic models

British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman has demanded bigger sample sizes for her models to wear in a bid to bring hips and breasts back into mainstream fashion.

 She says: “We have now reached the point where many of the sample sizes don’t comfortably fit even the established star models.”

There has been a long-held debate about introducing bigger models into the catwalk scene, with petitions and demonstrations from womens groups and believers of ‘annorexia-inducing imagery and expectations.’

Maybe people are starting to wake up and realise that  women just do not identify with these sub-zero models. Bring back hips and breasts!

What does this have to do with the economy? Well, in the current recession, it is said that Vogue has woken up and finally put foward a bid to put real women on the catwalk to create a wider audience out of the economically distressed public.

This has been openly critisised as a PR move, and maybe it is, but I personally think that it is about time the fashion industry woke up and started identifying with real women with real curves.

Whether this move will be embraced or not is not a question easily answered, but it is a realistic dream and could make for a healthier, more confident future for women.