The Bite Magazine - Summer 2012 - Issue 5

I n today’s modern world we live under a microscope. Social networking, online video chat services and mobile phone technology give us constant access to celebrity culture and a fabricated representation of contemporary living. Armed with these various gadgets the impressionable 21 st century youth are subject to magnified self-scrutiny. Through magazines, young women are shown a skinny ideal, airbrushed to perfection. In a world where eating disorders are at an all-time high with anorexia nervosa affecting 1 in every 100 women between the ages of 15 and 30 in the UK, the demand for plus-size models is greater than ever. With laws already underway to ban skinny models in certain areas of the globe, will plus-size models fit the bill or are real women still not receiving true representation of what a healthy body should be? In recent months there has been much controversy over the definition of a straight-sized model and the impact this has on the public. Much of this stemmed from an article published in PLUS Model Magazine which claimed that most runway models meet the Body Mass Index criteria for anorexia. The feature also questioned the fashion industry’s definition of plus-size, stating that women who measure above a size 14 are not catered for. Moreover, a new law was passed in Israel in March which required male and female models to have a BMI of no less than 18.5, a standard used by the World Health Organisation. The legislation also demanded that the creators of advertisements disclose whether they have used Photoshop or graphic programs to manipulate images in campaigns. The current focus on the weight of models has caused many to question what the future holds for the fashion industry. Will other countries follow the lead from Israel? From the muscular and fuller figured flapper models of the 1920s to the stick thinTwiggy trend of the sixties, it seems with changing styles in clothing, different sizes go in and out of fashion. Though straight-sized models still dominate the catwalk, many plus-sized beauties have risen to the top and if any woman has reached plus-size supermodel status, then it is 21 year old Scottish sweetheart Angelica Gray. At the age of 17, inspired by her grandmother who was a model for Christian Dior in the 1950s, Angelica began her career as a straight- sized model. However, after deciding to leave the high pressured job of skinny modelling behind, Angelica found her feet as a plus-size model in 2009. That one crucial decision changed Angelica’s life and now at a voluptuous size 14, Angelica has appeared in the curvy edition ofVogue Italia, featured in the Evans campaign and has been signed to agencies across the globe including Heffner Management in the US and Hughes Models in London. Poised elegantly across from me, sits Angelica, herself. With curves shaped into a perfect hourglass, she has a body to die for, yet when modelling in her teenage years Angelica was subject to much criticism. “When working in straight- sized fashion in Scotland and Milan, I came up against a lot of criticism. Even though I was a size 8, I was told that I had to lose more weight but I felt as though I could not lose more because I was working so hard to stay at a size that was unnatural for me. I worked with a personal trainer every day like an athlete.” Disheartened with the fashion industry, Gray moved to Paris with the hope of pursuing acting work until an article on plus-sized modelling motivated her to prove herself once more in the fashion industry. “By that point my body had naturally become a size 12. When I read about plus-size modelling, I thought wow if I could have my cake and eat it that would be great,” Angelica laughs daintily. Having made her mark through modelling comfortably, Angelica has become a spokeswoman for plus-size models. “Naturally as women we have curves and I think that is to be celebrated and is not anything to be ashamed of. When I look back to the 1950s when my gran modelled, that was what fashion was all about, curves and beautiful female forms.” Through her workAngelica has raised the professional profile of plus size models and awareness of discrepancies within the industry itself. “There is a huge amount of pressure on straight-sized models to maintain a certain weight and I think it SHOULD WOMEN BE PRESSURED INTO BEING STICK-THIN, OR BE FREE TO PROMOTE FEMININE CURVES? WHAT MESSAGE IS BEING PORTRAYED WHEN THE EMPHASIS IS ON BEING ULTRA-SLIM? CORRINE MCCONNACHIE ADDRESSES THE SUBJECT AND SPEAKS TO PLUS-SIZE MODEL, ANGELICA GRAY. PHOTOGRAPHY: LAURA MCKINNON THE PLUS PHENOMENON size bite reallife