All Walks “Plus Size” model Laura Catterall covers French Cosmo
Former All Walks model Laura Catterall has covered French Cosmopolitan's April issue. Her curves are beautifully displayed by the 50's style shoot. All Walks is proud to have introduced Laura to London designer Mark Fast in 2010; he subsequently booked her to walk in his catwalk show alongside other "plus size" models, including Hayley Morley.
The shoot in French Cosmo shows Laura's stunning feminine curves, and emphasizes her healthy, beautifully toned athletic limbs:
The French seem to be leading the way in terms of featuring curvy, "plus size" (not a very helpful term) models prominently; with French Elle having used Tara Lynn on their February cover, describing her as "The Body," a title formerly used to describe super model Elle Macpherson.
Here at All Walks we are aware that magazines have often featured curvy models in a way that makes them seem like a novelty, rather than as beautiful women whose figures more closely resemble those of the general population. However, putting such beautifully curvaceous models on the cover of the magazine shows an acceptance that they are aspirational figures who can sell fashion (magazines) as well as any 'standard' size model.
We say, "Continuez le bon travail!"
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Words by Charlotte Gush
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Charlotte Gush is a freelance fashion writer, blogger and editor, as well as the Online Commissioning Editor for All Walks. She has previously spent 6 months working for All Walks at the London office as a social media, marketing and production intern. Charlotte writes a fashion, street style and personal style blog, CAVACOMA.com, with a dedicated Facebook fanpage here, and a Twitter account @CavaCharlotte |
High School Students discuss Body Image as part of BBC School Report
Skip to the 12 minute mark to hear students from Tarporley High School in Cheshire discuss body image, focusing particularly on how the media affects the way teenagers feel about their appearance. Later in the piece, students quiz gorgeous "plus size" model Jenna Herlingshaw and CBBC presenter Cerrie Burnell, who was born with only one hand, about their appearances and experiences.***
Words by Charlotte Gush, on Twitter @CavaCharlotte
Designer Alexandra Groover teams up with All Walks model for fashion film
ALEXANDRA GROOVER 'LIFE' SS12 TRAILER from au matt on Vimeo.
Californian-born designer, and friend of All Walks, Alexandra Groover has created a short film to be shown alongside her Spring / Summer 2012 collection during London Fashion Week. The film, entitled 'LIFE', sees Groover team up with plus size model Lucy Freeman for a second time. They have previously worked together on All Walk's 'Size Me Up' campaign, where Alexandra created a bespoke dress for Lucy to wear in the campaign imagery, shot by Kayt Jones.
'LIFE' is the second film in a trilogy that started with 'BIRTH', a film which accompanied Alexandra's Autumn / Winter 2011 collection. The second film continues to explore the concepts of origin and separation, as well as dealing with the topics of growth and indepedence from the family-unit.
In LIFE a large black rosebud slowly begins to blossom on the shoreline of Southern California, only to reveal the intense fuchsia faces of five performers who uncoil themselves into a meandering line of one, long interconnected dress. As they twist and turn across the screen, the slashes of fabric joining them together billow in the wind, and their snake-like procession exits into the bright sunlight of San Diego and re-emerges against the awe-inspiring backdrop of London’s Hampstead Heath where it all ends in an explosive finale.
Alexandra Groover created the dress worn by Lucy (below) for All Walks' "Size Me Up" campaign. The campaign saw eight models selected by All Walks, of a diverse range of shapes, sizes, ages and ethnicities, pair up with eight up-and-coming British designers; Mark Fast, David Koma, Avsh Alom Gur, Hannah Marshall, William Tempest, Georgia Hardinge, Cooperative Designs and Alexandra Groover. The designers each created a bespoke outfit for their model and photographer Kayt Jones shot the images for i-D Magazine.
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Post by Charlotte Gush
Charlotte is a freelance fashion writer, blogger and editor based in Manchester, as well as the Online Commissioning Editor for All Walks. She has previously spent 6 months working for All Walks at the London office as a social media, marketing and production intern. Charlotte writes a fashion, street style and personal style blog, 'CAVACOMA.com', with a dedicated Facebook fanpage here, and a Twitter account @CavaCharlotte
Look’s curvy supermodel: Clothes modelling for real women, by real women?
The average British woman is a size 14. Yet the average model, the very platform for showcasing the clothes that 'everyday' women are going to buy, is a considerably smaller size 6. Surely, there’s something not right here? How can we judge fashion when we know that it’s not going to look the same on us as it does on the model? Attempting to close the gap is LOOK magazine, who recently embarked on a mission to recruit a curvy supermodel to star in an editorial shoot between their coveted pages. Potential applicants had to be a size 12 or above.
A team of fashion insiders, including LOOK editor Ali Hall, and plus size model Crystal Renn scoured the country for a girl whose curves could steal any runway show. Nineteen year-old Lyndsay O’Hagan was announced as the winner during London Fashion Week.
So, is the future of fashion a little more voluptuous? Can we expect to see more 'real women' with 'real' figures modelling clothes for us? One thing is for sure: those first few steps Lyndsay took on to the catwalk were significant, they were promising, and they were definitely a long time coming.
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Post by Erin Cardiff
Erin is a second year journalism student at the University of Sheffield. She is currently applying for masters courses in New York to study magazine journalism. Erin has two blogs, Frocking Hell and Erin Actually . You can find her on Twitter @erincardiff.
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Editor Charlotte Gush, on Twitter @CavaCharlotte