I'm a Curve Model Who Walked at NYFW—Inside the State of Size Diversity in Fashion

Lauren Chan is a Who What Wear editor in residence, a Canadian model, a former award-winning fashion editor at Glamour, and the founder of Henning, a luxury plus-size clothing label.

Smack in the middle of New York Fashion Week, a celebrity stylist asked to borrow a selection of my personal clothes for a client of a similar size to me—likely a 12. It was not just for a front-row photo op; it was for the cover of a very well-known magazine, to be shot alongside her industry peers. Upon reading their message, I—and I never say this word—guffawed. Borrow my mass-produced, un-dry-cleaned Ester Manas and Ottolinger while the other cover stars will surely be dressed in designers' fresh-off-the-runway, one-of-a-kind samples? I genuinely thought it was a joke.

Of course, it's not the stylist I take issue with. (I assure you she is equal parts inclusive and talented.) In her words, it's brands' public relations teams that sent her all things sample size, i.e., 0–4. While I can understand her mid-fashion-crisis frustration, the PR reps only have so many garments to choose from since only a handful of designers make plus-size samples.

Alas, I'm not here to expose my niche celebrity fashion gossip. I'm here to remind you, amid the recession of size inclusion during fashion month, why you should care.

Sample Sizes Affect Everyone

It goes like this: The samples for celebrities to get dressed in are either custom-made or pulled from designers' runway collections. The celebrities who are able to establish themselves as fashion standouts get more career opportunities and, if they are in bigger bodies, are able to destigmatize size at-large via representation. At that point, their trickle-down effect affects everything from the public's self-confidence to earning ability, and when 67% of women in America are above size 14, this is important.

The Runway Impact

I've been writing about size inclusion for a decade, and while I can report that most industry folks acknowledge the issue, no one can agree on where to place the blame for a lack of options above standard size runs. At one point, the consensus was that it belonged to the retailers, which were the engine that powered this business. Designers would say that because fashion was so driven by department stores and they wouldn't order above size 12 from brands, then there was no viable financial reason to expand sizing.

In 2025, though, the business has moved away from a retailer monopoly, with many of them struggling or completely closing. Sales are being made through preorder platforms, direct-to-consumer e-commerce, drop-shipping via retailers, etc. If I were to place the blame and, ipso facto, the ability to make a difference, I'd say it now lies with the designers.

The Designers Doing It Right

For the spring/summer 2026 season, those who featured mid- and plus-size looks include Bach Mai, Christian Cowan, Christian Siriano, Coach, Collina Strada, Dauphinette, Grace Ling, Jane Wade, Kim Shui, Off-White, PatBo, Theophilio, Tory Burch, Tyler McGillivary, Vettese, and Wiederhoeft. Among those designers, McGillivary had the most mid- and plus- size looks with 11; Siriano with eight; Cowan with five; Vettese with three; Burch, Dauphinette, Ling, and Strada with two; and the rest, seemingly, with one.

While that's a decent list, inclusion this season seems to have stayed about the same as the last few. According to Vogue Business, mid- and plus-size representation at NYFW dipped from 6% for spring/summer 2025 to 4% for fall/winter 2025. (London Fashion Week is similar to New York, whereas Milan and Paris hover between 0.1 to 1% from season to season.)

The Path Forward

So designers, now would be the time to strike! Let's resuscitate the size-diverse boom of the late 2010s and get ahead of the crowd. I'm sure you all know that the patriarchy and its size standards are in. After all, since we're just talking about fashion week, it's performative anyways. More on plus-size folks having access to actual clothing in their size later… Wink.