Why the world is not ready for new model standards
TEXT: Alyona Belaya
Definitely one of the most talked about moments. Those who approached the end of the fashion week will have a story about how the models Gigi Hadid in her own Instagram account hinted quite thickly, say, if you are not big. Gigi, in turn, did not lose her head and answered with an open letter: "I know that it is not Thumbelina, so what?"
Yes, Gigi Hadid is far from a reed, she, as she herself wrote in that very letter, “has chest and butt,” and she is proud of it. Why not be proud? Moreover, despite the non-typical for roundness models, Gigi still regularly participates in fashion shows, is removed for the covers of Vogue and W and becomes the face of the advertising campaigns of Max Mara and Balmain.
Indignation at the absurd standards of model business is heard more and more often, but has not yet led to a revolution. The ideals that have little in common with everyday life, imposed by fashion industry and gloss, are a talk of the town, and it seems that everyone has long had to come to some constructive result. But Edie Slimane continues to choose too thin models for Saint Laurent's advertising campaigns, and magazine designers and editors continue to opt for girls with a body mass index below 18. At least that was the case until recently.
Gigi Hadid is from the same category of models as Kendall Jenner (about the reasons for the popularity of which we have already written). These pretty girls next door, which resemble a girlfriend or classmate. The secret of their success is in good looks and active Instagram, besides, they are open to the world, friendly and simple in manners. In general, they do not behave like heaven-like supermodels from the 90s. Yes, they will not be seen at the shows of the first cohort of intelligent brands like Céline or Dries Van Noten, but those who set themselves the goal of collecting as many likes in social networks as possible meet their Jenner and Hadid with open arms. The question of hip volume sometimes plays a smaller role than charisma - ask Mark Jacobs, who invited the beautiful Beth Ditto to participate in his show. Indeed, in the world of viral dissemination of information, it is much more important that the next morning the headlines “Gigi Hadid come out at the Versace show” scattered all over the Internet.
The humanization of model standards is not as unambiguous as it seems and would like to believe. On the one hand, on the catwalks we really began to see not only translucent girls propagating unhealthy thinness and tiny parameters. But Gigi, her sister Bella, Joan Smalls and other conditional angels of Victoria's Secret are a completely certain type: commercial, understandable to a wide audience, symbolizing "healthy" and "mundane" beauty - and, accordingly, selling. We all understand that for a highly conceptual fashion-shooting model like Gigi Hadid is not the first candidate in the list. And the point is not snobbery, just for the time being, the specifics of the industry are inert and conservative in their views on the high and the beautiful.
The story of the angry attacks on Hadid causes bewilderment and indignation not only by the fact of the attacks, but also by an inadequate assessment of her appearance. It would seem, how and to whom it would have occurred to a girl with such a body that there was no place on the podium? The fact is that her figure is discussed in complete isolation from "reality", which in no way improves the situation with the so vague notions of "thin" and "full" and only strengthens the gap between "beauty" and "model beauty". The main claim to Gigi from her online critics is that, "having forms," she works as a professional model and earns a lot of money. Does this again tell us that many people are hard on any minimal deviations from the norm that has been introduced for decades? Perhaps, because the parameters of Gigi remain quite traditionally model, speaking only a couple of centimeters beyond the framework of unspoken standards.
Because of this, the whole situation can hardly be considered a harbinger of the fact that designers are ready to massively show their collections on models of average stature. Society, in turn, is very difficult to wean from the idea that only tall and thin girls should demonstrate clothing. But the fact that the same agency can represent by no means the fragile Lara Stone and absolutely elven appearance Sasha Pivovarova and both will be in demand and successful is still a good sign. A model business that has always changed is difficult, and radically - never, now it is becoming more and more flexible and is gradually finding a place in its coordinate system for a variety of types of beauty. And this is exactly what common sense advocates are fighting for today, despite the loud chorus of opponents and trolls.
Photo:Topshop, Max Mara, Guess