They said/We said: Full Figured Fashion Week moves to create equality in the market

The annual Full Figured Fashion Week may only be in its fourth cycle, but its message of empowerment is already abundantly clear.

“We need to stop with the marginalization. I’m not asking for couture, but I demand the right to go into any store and buy a simple black dress,” the event’s creator and former plus-size model Gwen DeVoe told WWD.

With the average woman’s dress size now sitting around a size 12–16, a huge portion of would-be shoppers have had to bypass size 00-12 retailers for years. But it’s not all bad news, at least not for the plus-size retail market: last year, they churned out a whopping $17 billion. In other words, curvy women are just as into clothes as their skinny counterparts.

“If you’re in this business for the sake of doing business, why are you excluding this entire community?” DeVoe asked. Fair enough!

The FFFW’s fourth year in the making marks quite a few firsts for the four-day-long event. Compared to its more modest first three showings, this year’s event was kick-started by an all-white sunset cruise Wednesday night. On the boat, the men got a nod in the Big and Tall male fashion show. Aside from runway shows later in the week featuring plus-size styles from designers like Jill Alexander and Ashley Stewart, the event has also organized blogger workshops, a runway show put on by Bloomingdale’s and shopping events.

Though there have been some recent instances in which the fashion industry has addressed size-related issues (including Vogue’s international health initiative and that scintillating Vogue Italia cover celebrating plus-size beauty), DeVoe has a point: many women are still finding it hard to shop for their body size, and as anyone who’s ever had a near-meltdown in a fitting room can attest to, that can be both demoralizing and infuriating. Anything to make the industry more inclusive is all right by us!