Fashion insiders have expressed concern that progress towards size inclusivity on the catwalk is being reversed, with a new report showing that 94.9% of looks in recent shows were modelled by size-zero women. Vogue Business's spring/summer 2025 size inclusivity report, released on Tuesday, described a 'worrying return to using extremely thin models' and a 'plateau in size inclusivity efforts across New York, London, Milan and Paris'.
Of the 8,763 looks presented across 208 womenswear shows earlier this month, only 0.8% were modelled by plus-size (UK 18+) models, while 4.3% were mid-size (UK 10-16). In Milan, 98% of looks were shown on straight-size models. Anna Shillinglaw, founder of model agency Milk Management, said: 'It feels like we've taken 10 steps backwards.'
Despite earlier milestones such as Jill Kortleve becoming the first model above a UK 8 to walk for Chanel in 2000, and British Vogue's April 2023 cover featuring plus-size models, the industry has pivoted. Shillinglaw noted that some high-end designers now view curvier women as 'more as a fad in fashion rather than something that is real life', despite the average British dress size being a 16.
Chanel included some mid-size and plus-size models this season, but other luxury brands did not, leaving emerging brands like Karoline Vitto and Ester Manas to bolster body diversity. Casting director Chloe Rosolek called the elimination of bigger bodies from major brands 'baffling'.
The report also links the trend to the 'glamorisation of thinness' driven by weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, which has led even straight-size models to feel pressure to lose inches. Rosolek noted a 'decrease in size across the board', with many former plus-size models now considered mid-size.
While Kering and LVMH introduced charters in 2017 to ban size zero and under-16 models, enforcement remains patchy. This season in Milan, 16-year-old Sunday Rose Kidman Urban opened the Miu Miu show, and several top-ranking models were under 21 and size zero. Model Emily McGrail, 21, shared on TikTok that after failing to get work in Milan, she was advised to lose a centimetre from her hips, despite being underweight for her height and age.
