I'd have to say that my very favorite look is the first one - there is something unique about that snakeprint jacket. It can see it being paired with jeans just as easily as I can see it being paired with that skirt and blouse number. What were your favorite looks? View the full collection at The Fashion Spot
25 comments:
As usual, it's terribly disappointing to see the Elena Miro models looking so thin. They are barely distinguishable from straight-size models. Since this company serves customers the equivalent of size 14W and up, their models should be siz 14W and up. None of these girls are; not one.
And it CAN be done. A company in the U.S. (I'll name it if you like) recently staged a fashion show which featured every model size 16 or above, and they looked terrific. They walked with confidence; they looked truly plus. It was incredibly empowering.
Elena Miro's choice of models disappoints every time. They could be really promoting the curvy aesthetic. Instead, they keep copping out. For that reason alone, I'll never buy from them.
I like the green skirt suit, but that's about it. And hey, it's something I could totally wear now, seeing as I'm in summer!
Anon, They only LOOK thin based on what you think 'plus' (or is that fat?) should look like. They are wearing clothes that suit their proportions and tailored to fit them individually. A lot of plus models do have relatively 'thin'-looking legs and arms, and a lot of them have distinct collarbones showing - even while their bust-waist-hips measurements place them a size 12 or above. Why do so many people think models not properly 'plus' unless they look 15lbs heavier than they actually are?? And let's not forget this is Milan, and Milan is about selling clothes to buyers, not rocking a curvy revolution. If you want to bring up Ashley Stewart's participation at Thurgood Marshall, fine, but the comparison is not valid AT ALL. An African American-specific fashion showing outside of NY Fashion Week is not the same as showing in Milan on the schedule to hundreds of fashion buyers from around the world.
Go visit KateHarding.net's BMI Project (http://kateharding.net/bmi-illustrated/) to see how warped the visual perception of size can be. I'll bet there are plenty of people in there who challenge your brain on what different height and size combinations look like. Oh, and Elena Miro doesn't use W sizing - they have their own numbering system - so that's not really a basis for argument.
Back on topic, the presentation was BANGING! The girls looked like models (FINALLY!) and there was lots of variety among the faces.
I love that teal/green color - prob most in the dress that Allegra wore - although overall I found the cuts/styles repetitious, even if the materials looked beautiful.
Full collection of stills is also available to download from www.elenamiro.it if you don't have tFS membership
Leaving aside what Anon #1 said, I have to say, "downtonvenus" that the way you hurl the word "fat" into the discussion like an insult is really offensive.
So you're basically saying that models THIS size are OK, but larger size models would be too "fat"? That they're..."too fat for fashion"? That's the last thing I hope to hear at a blog that is, hopefully, about saying that women are NOT "too fat for fashion."
That makes you just as bad as the designers who consider THESE models too large.
Jon Stewart tells a relevant joke about his anti-immigrant grandfather. "An immigrant himself, and he hates immigrants." The joke goes, he (the grandfather) gets off the boat at Ellis Island, turns around, and says to the rest of the immigrants who were on the boat with him, "Now get off my land!"
That's what you're trying to do. You have to extend acceptance of diverse sizes to all, or you're a hypocrite -- or worse.
Well, I have to say that I like the teal greens. I prefer color for s/s, so I find that interesting.
I am wondering, however, will EM ever be widely available in the U.S.
They may have to open stores since Saks Fifth Avenue is the only consistent game in town for bridge/designer plus size through Salon Z.
I'm gonna need that teal suit and metallic trench STAT!
The fashion show looked like it was a success. If I had some of those dresses in my closet, I'd probably be the happiest woman in the world.
But to comment on the size of the models....the girls are plus size, maybe not as visibly plus as some would like, but they do have curves. Now, could Elena Miro used other girls on the different modeling boards that were curvier, such as Ashley Graham instead of Crystal Renn...maybe, but all that needs to be said is that these girls looked fierce. True, as a company that represets the curvier woman models with a little more voluptuousness would've been nice but, the fact these girls are on the runway representing a section of the public that is constantly ignored by the industry is a revolution in of itself.
And yes Elena Miro doesn't use W sizing but that wasn't what Anon had stated. What was stated was that this company serves the size W demographic so, techincally, the point that was mentioned could've beed used for a basis in an agrument after all.
I think the models look plus sized. I guess it all depends on what your perception of plus sized is. Also, Elena Miro sells clothing sizes that correspond to a us 6 to a us 22 ( according to her website). Since she sells clothes that small I think it is awesome that her models are the size that they are!
You rather willfully misunderstood me, Anon 10:18.
Many women do (from casting around the net on plus fashion forums) seem to think that plus-size as a descriptor should equal 'obviously fat-looking' because that is how they identify the phrase in their personal useage, and that is all I was implying - it certainly wasn't an insult to anyone.
And LeLe, as Jabri pointed out the clothes start at a US6, so why should I kowtoe to the notion that the models need to be bigger 'just coz'? I knew the range started at a 6, Anon didn't or chose to ignore it, and Jabri has now remedied that lack of nformation. Sorted?
I loved the collection. I loved the colors and the sexy factor. I think that the girls looked great, and some of them are bigger than what they look like.I think it shows how our image of a size 14-16 women is so warpt, that we view the size to be much bigger than it actually is.
Anon 10:18, if you go back and read what I said properly, I asked someone ELSE if they thought the models were thin by their own definition of plus, which for a lot of people means being visibly fat; I was not presenting my own opinion on the subject. You're welcome to object my phrasing as much as you like, of course.
And LeLe, the information on Elena Miro's sizing is clearly available on their site - if Anon 9:36 wishes to make a valid point about size, then it should have been perhaps: "Elena Miro offers such a wide range of sizes that surely they should feature some smaller, and some larger models than they did. That would be clearly more representative of their consumers".
But no, it was just the irksome "They are looking too thin". Actually, they aren't at all. That is what models of their size look like on a catwalk when there is nothing else in the photo to reference their size against. So don't buy their clothes, fine. But the girls aren't too thin. They just aren't the dress size Anon9:36 wants them to be. Spot the difference.
downtownvenus, you say:
"I asked someone ELSE if they thought the models were thin by their own definition of plus, which for a lot of people means being visibly fat"
So if "a lot of people" feel this way, then maybe "a lot of people" have a point. You ask why "so many people" want models to look 15 lbs heavier than they are; well, maybe they just want models who ARE 15 pounds (or whatever) heavier. You say these models have thin features, well, maybe a lot of people want models who don't have thin features. Why? Because it better represents them. Because it's a type of beauty that's been excluded. It's for the same reasons why people feel waifs don't represent them. And that's a valid and real sentiment.
I am fascinated by this.....I love visiting your blog many times! fantastic! keep it going :-)
..Viva le forme delle donne!
Greetings,
Morgan
P.S we shouldnt be complaining...things are finally starting to change...perhaps not so quickly or big as we think but at least SOMTHING!
peace
Whatever. I was asked if I was making a sly insult, you have my reply.
And since when have models of any ilk ever accurately represented the consumer?
The models look lovely, those legs! except...they need better bras. The clothes aren't my thing, but the more lines the better.
Sorry for the mess, Miss J -
Anon 9:45: 'A lot of people' think that the Holocaust didn't happen; that aliens populated the Earth and that they will come back soon and save us from ourselves; that their particular God wants them to kill as many infidels as possible; and a lot of people think that there should not be models over a size 6 in fashion, EVER. Do they have a valid point, too? Is 'a lot of people' really a majority consensus and therefore correct based purely on finding others with like beliefs?
The very crux of the job description for models is that they be non-generic-looking and that they do NOT look like 'every other woman at the mall'. Of course waifs didn't represent the majority of women, and neither does Gisele Bunchen accurately represent all Brazilian women, nor does Naomi Campbell properly represent all women of the Carribean/West Indies or London, etc, etc. No one person can be that encompassing, and that is not the job of the model in any case. Similarly, Kate Dillon, Crystal Renn, Jordan Tesfay and even Charlotte Coyle - individually - do not accurately represent a majority or even a moderately large group of plus-size consumers. There is identification, perhaps, but representation is a different matter altogether. Inclusion is a political topic and this thread/blog is not the right arena.
It is frustrating that this issue is always being discussed via the models' sizes. Surely we are intelligent enough to know it is the companies hiring models making the decisions on the size of the models used, and in essence who, in a trickle-down effect via booking requests to agencies, determine that there will be more 12-14's available to choose from than size 22s?
Can we stop shooting the messengers sometime soon please? Note the size of the models in ads, but complain instead on the fashion business practices and skewed marketing of the company involved, and generally about the concept of aspiration/inspiration in plus-size clothing advertising*, because that provides something definite for them to respond to. And as Elena Miro is not yet available in the US, protesters in that region have no avenue but direct communication with the company to make their feelings known. Self-embargoes on purchasing clothes is really only effective if you were in a position to do so, financially or geographically.
*a whole other thread!
And if you so cavalierly dismiss what "a lot of people think," then I suppose the designers should just continue dictating fashion and excluding anything over a size 6 in perpetuity? That kind of cavalier dismissal of public wishes would have kept blacks out of the media too. Can those who have fought for great racial diveristy be dimissed as well, because "what a lot of people" seems to unimportant?
Thank goodness some people actually want to fight for change in the world around them, not just passively accept its prejudices, let alone defend them.
Models doesn't have to be "generic looking" or "look like every other woman at the mall" for larger sizes to be represented as well as smaller ones. It's sad if you think that way, because you're creating a false association between "larger" and "generic." That kind of thinking is exactly what keeps an anorexic ideal in place, to the detriment of all women.
And why SHOULDN'T this (or any) topic be broached here?
That kind of cavalier dismissal of public wishes would have kept blacks out of the media too. Can those who have fought for great racial diveristy be dimissed as well, because "what a lot of people" seems to unimportant?
Delurking, but I think thats a completely unfair comparison. Racial diversity and body diversity are two different things. Just as the fight for fat rights and the fight for civil rights for blacks (or any ethnic group) are different. I'm all for diversity on runways but there is something so disrespectful about paralleling racial discrimination with size discrimination - both are horrible of course but the experience of being a racial minority and the experience of being a minority due to size are different. Yes people have been mistreated due to their size but no one has ever denied fat people the right to vote or placed them in internment camps.
I hate the way the terminology of the civil rights movement has been co-opted by the fat rights movement. Racism is a whole different issue - one that extends waaaaay beyond the reach of this blog. Last I checked this was still a blog about clothes.
Speaking of which the Elena Miro outfits are OK this time around, I liked the Fall stuff better. Still I think the line is very interesting and I like seeing what they have to offer each season.
Are we now going to categorize discrimination and rank it? At what point does it become acceptable, then?
Never, I hope.
I should think the concept sufficiently abhorrent to fight it in any form it manifests itself.
I'd like to think that this is more than just "a blog about clothes", but about "fashion beyond sample sizes" -- which I take to mean, helping to introduce the world to the notion that fashion does not end at a size 6, and doesn't end at a size 12 either.
Some of the finest posts written for this site have dealt with the issue of size discrimination in fashion and the media. Check the archives to see.
(Re-submitting; not sure if my first attempt got through.)
True, I too am sick of the "my discrimination is much more discriminatory than yours!" attitude.
Bigotry is bigotry, period.
As a plus-size woman, I am perfectly happy with the size of the women on the Elena Miro runway. They represent a more average size American woman, which I like. I don't expect to see women my size (I'm WAY plus-size) on the runway, no do I want to. I just want the runway to reflect more NORMAL bodies. I DON'T have a normal body and neither do the waifs on the traditional runways. Miro's models represent a good "middle ground." And I do like some of the popular "waifs" too - let's have a good mix of shapes, I say!
Oh, and the clothes are colorful too! Photo 5 and 12 are my favorites. I love Crystal Renn too : )
If you would like to construe that as my meaning, Anon, I cannot stop you. All I meant/said/implied was that a lot of people agreeing on one issue doesn't make it a truth for all people - not that their beliefs are wrong/illogical/meritless. I see a bit of a difference, but perhaps you do not.
Elena Miro accurately recognizes the extent to which the fashion industry is resisting the notion of larger models and the marketing of larger sized clothing (no matter how much revenue it may bring) and is evolving their presentations through baby steps. Making the models a 3-4 sizes bigger than what the critics are used to seeing on the Milan schedule rather than 6-8 sizes bigger, moving the garments from conservative suit and twinset combos to in-your-face swimsuits and mini-dresses, presenting more models and more garments each season; they are being very savvy to present EM on an upward sliding scale and always inching carefully over the boundaries, season after season. They have gone from being a novelty act to a staple presentation at Milan over only a few years, now opening the shows.
'A lot of people' know that this is how things will need to be done for the industry to evolve, yet a different set of 'a lot of people' want change to be extremely obvious, and that is fine too. Let's just ask ourselves seriously which method has the better chance of bringing long-lasting change? Doing it right under the critics' noses in a way that plays by their rules is brilliantly subversive. The models are stunning, the clothes are expensive looking and well constructed - there are no reasons for them to criticize it seems - that dissent always comes from within EM's size demographic (to say consumer demographic is misleading). Why is it never good enough? The first instinct here is to criticise, it seems - not applaud.
EM is leading the way in real, identifiable terms. Token appearances of larger models for other designers is just that - token, in terms of the indivudal designer. John Galliano tried to overtly show the fashion world just how snobbish and elitist it has become by showing large, petite, aged and unconventional models in his "Everybody is Beautiful" Spring 2006 prêt-à-porter show, and he got a thorough spanking for it in the fashion press. So when 'a lot of people' get what they want, Anon, it doesn't go down too well, but when you play by their rules and beat them at their own game? That's clearly the way forward. But you don't have to see it the same way I do, and you are entitled to your opinion.
When is anything "a truth for all people"?
And "Baby steps"? Where? "Steps" implies that there is a progression, yet there has been none at all. There have been no "steps," only stasis. EM has been running these shows for several years now. They are using exactly the same-size girls now that they did at the beginning. At the same time, all of other designers are using the same-size girls that THEY always have; none bigger, not even in EM's sizes (except for those token examples you mention).
So one proposition -- that EM's timid approach is going to institute some sort of change -- is false. It's still just Elena Miro and no one else. In other words, the whole show is just one example of "tokenism" itself.
Furthermore, there have been no "baby steps" (again, just stasis) within the EM shows themselves, in terms of models' sizes. They are still limiting the girls to the same sizes, not progressing, not taking steps towards introducing larger-size models. These shows are not changing fashion in the least.
Besides, the "critics" aren't the ones who are going to be bying EM's clothing, so what's the point of seeking THEIR approval, or timidly avoiding their criticisms, by using models in such small sizes that don't ruffle the critics' features? Better to play to EM's customers than to a bunch of "critics" who are irrelevant to plus-size fashion.
@ anonymous
The models ARE a size 12-16. For example model Louise MacCalum in the metallic coat wears a size 14-16.
Thanks for that a.s., I'm getting tired of being the only voice of fact or reason on this thread. I wanted to post all the models' sizes but *meh* - too lazy.
Just because Elena Miro is currently the only plus range at the Milan shows does not make them a token effort; it merely means that Marina Rinadi et al are lame for not walking through the door opened for them by EM and doing likewise. MR certainly has the money for it so why the hell aren't they?
I'd happily give up a few photos of Kate Dillon shot by Demarchelier in their glossy MR rag to pay for more larger models on the Milan catwalk. I hope you would too, Anon.
tall but cute, so much cuter than the super skinny waif gals for sure!
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