Feb 23, 2026, 8:26 p.mFeb 23, 2026, 8:26 p.m
After increasing emphasis on diversity and body positivity in the fashion industry in recent years, this trend has reversed again in recent months. As a result of the #Skinnytok trend on social media, very thin models were increasingly appearing on catwalks – curvier bodies were hardly seen at all at Berlin Fashion Week in early February.
Diverse body types are making a comeback at London Fashion Week. Designers such as Karoline Vitto, Phoebe English and Sinead Gorey have presented fashion for various sizes up to plus size on the catwalk in recent days.
The decision comes amid expert warnings that previous progress in the fashion industry is being jeopardized by a return to the slimming ideal. Loud Vogue Business Plus-size models made up just 0.9 percent of women’s collections at shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris last year.
“Where have all the curvy models gone?” asks fashion designer Karoline Vitto in an interview with “Guardian”. She wants to counteract the slimming trend through her shows. That’s why she chose models who “reflect our size diversity so that viewers can understand what the clothes would look like on them if they were also that size.” Vitto adds:
«We have models with different body proportions. Some have a large bust. Some have wider hips. Some have smaller busts and wider hips. Some have broader shoulders. It sounds simple, but it’s not something you normally see on the catwalk.”
As a relatively unknown label, Vitto cannot pay established models. Many of her models therefore cover the costs themselves in order to support Vitto in her project.
Designer Phoebe English also focused on diversity at her fashion show. English chose her mother and the writer Aja Barber as models.
Casting director Emma Matell, whose clients include Tom Ford and Vivienne Westwood, thinks it’s great that some young designers are championing body diversity. «We see so much inclusion from the new generation of designers. “They all do their best within their means, even with limited budgets,” says Matell. However, change must also come from the top.
Matell adds that emerging designers are taking cues from luxury fashion houses. Large fashion houses have made no effort, which also has an impact on lower levels. “They set the example of what is considered safe and commercially viable for younger brands. What you’re saying is: This is luxury fashion and this is what a luxury model looks like.” (hkl)