V Magazine Adds Body to Its January 2010 Issue

By Kendra Gilbert on December 17th, 2009

crystal-rennes-1
Hot on the heels of Glamour, V Magazine is the latest glossy to get behind the plus-size craze (or debate) currently sweeping the fashion industry. They will kick off 2010 with a January issue devoted to plus-size models. And, yet again, words like “novelty,” “token,” and “gimmick” are being used to describe the way fashion magazines are trying to improve their images by supposedly backing a more realistic idea of beauty.

In theory, creating an issue of a magazine featuring only plus-size models would be a groundbreaking feat. It could be likened to putting the first black model on the cover of Vogue. But, it’s the motivations behind the upcoming January issue, and how the fashion industry treats this debate, that makes it all a bunch of crap. They (fashion mags and industry elites) don’t want a healthier woman to model their clothes and appear on the pages of their magazines. This is all for show. And, as magazines hope, readership.

Just look at who V hired as a photographer for the plus-size issue. None other than Karl Lagerfeld. Yes, he’s as remarkable with a camera as he is with tweed, but has V completely forgotten his remarks from just a few months back? When interviewed by Focus magazine, Lagerfeld had this to say about plus-size models: “No one wants to see curvy women.” He continued, “You’ve got fat mothers with their bags of chips sitting in front of the television and saying that thin models are ugly.” This is the guy V chose to photograph plus-size models. It’s a blatant crock. I guess Lagerfeld has forgotten about the days when was was quite rotund.

Unlike putting more ethnically diverse models on the covers of magazines, not everyone thinks including plus-size models in high-fashion is a good thing. Magazines want to pretend they do, but it’s almost become exploitative. Nude plus-size models in Glamour. An “all plus-size models” issue of V. It’s complete novelty. After the issue is published, I have no doubt V will go back to the waifs and rail-thin models it’s fond of using. When plus-size models walk the runways (fully clothed) alongside thinner models, than maybe I’ll believe a change is happening.