Model body: proportion london’s diverse mannequins
For many, the shop mannequin is the first point of real contact that they have with a design, which they may previously have seen on the runway or in the media, and this experience informs how they may wear the garment.
Window displays have been a integral part of the shopping experience ever since the late 1950's; from enticing the customer into the store, to helping some garments take shape and show the consumer what the garment is to look like on the human form, encouraging the customer to try it on.
Proportion London, who specialize in mannequins and bust forms, have supported All Walks Beyond the Catwalk in our most recent project 'SNAPPED,' which was held at the National Portrait Gallery, by kindly loaning a collection of vintage inspired mannequins. Click here to see the mannequins in 'action.'
All Walks recently took a trip to Proportion London in order to see some of their latest mannequins and bust forms. What has got us excited is the range of different skin tones of the mannequins and the company's positive approach to ethnic diversity. Tanya Reynolds, creative director of Proportion London, says she believes that there is:
"[a restricted] range of skin colours on the catwalks, and when customers come into us they want to emulate the human being using wigs and make up, but they also look for skin tones that then tie in with their shows. So far, too often we don't see a diversity of skin tones, especially in the darker colours or the more oriental skin tones"
Because of this, Tanya decided to make a change and hired a colour specialist who was researching how different tones appear under different lights. After testing hundreds of different colours they developed about 30 paint shades from very pale to very dark skin tones in order to make their mannequins available in a selection of more realistic and diverse skin tones. Even better, if a customer requests a tone that they do not yet cater for, Proportion London will create one especially, so there are no limits on the skin tones available.
During our collaboration with Proportion London for 'SNAPPED', our event at the National Portrait Gallery, Tanya kindly allowed me to interview her for a recording which was played in the gallery's Brown Room for the one night only spectacular. I was particularly impressed by Tanya's description of how make up is applied to the mannequins in order to create different features:
"if we have been successful in sculpting an ambiguous face my make up artist will be able to change the appearance of the face to emulate the number of different cultural differences, when the Make-up artist comes in to paint he paints in oils, however, it wouldn't be like a oil painting"
Elaborating further about how the mannequin's initially ambiguous face takes shape, developing a truly individual look, Tanya explained that:
"sometimes the mannequins do not have eye sockets so he [the make-up artist] determines where the eyes are, how large they are, and also what shape and size the lips are... - all of this will be selected against the reference of what the skin shade is"
From my interview with Tanya, I now have an understanding of what Proportion London is doing in order to create diversity in the fashion industry, not through the live models on the catwalk, but through the mannequins that sell clothes to us in the stores. I hope now you too will be able to look at these mannequins and appreciate the true artistry that has gone into creating an ethnically diverse range of looks, through hair and make up, from mannequins that were originally plain and identical.
Here at All Walks we are very excited by what Proportion London are doing in order to create diversity, not just through the models who wear the clothes, but the mannequins that sell the clothes in shop windows. We are now able to appreciate the true art that goes into making mannequins appeal to diverse forms of female beauty, though the hair and make up used. Organisations like Proportion London are shaping the future of diverse beauty in fashion and are certainly breaking the mold in their artistic and creative vision.
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Post and all images by Michael Williamson
Michael is a designer, stylist, blogger and an integral member of the All Walks team, having been with us from the very beginning. Check out his blog, Safety-Pin Charm, to keep your finger on the pulse of all things fashion - especially london based. Follow Michael on Twitter @mwfrost
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Editor Charlotte Gush, on Twitter @CavaCharlotte
SLINK: THE NEW 14+ FASHION GLOSSY
SLiNK magazine is a new online fashion publication aimed at women who are size 14 and above. Editor, Rivkie Baum, trained as a designer and worked as a stylist and freelance journalist before moving into personal shopping, and then a retail-based styling role for plus size women. It was this experience that opened her eyes to the gap in the market for a plus size magazine with the same aspirational qualities as the major industry glossies:
“I became aware that lots of plus size women didn’t even pay attention to trends as there was no media format that showed it to them in an obtainable yet aspirational format. Plus size is a continuous hot topic in the media, yet it still carries so many negative connotations. I wasn’t sure how the industry would feel about a plus size glossy, but so far, it has nearly all been incredibly positive."
SLiNK magazine uses fashion illustration to explore the latest trends, rather than traditional catwalk shots which don’t fit within the ethos of the brand. This allows the magazine to be a platform for up and coming illustration talent.
Aside from fashion, SLiNK covers beauty, hair and makeup, with top tips from industry proffessionals such as Lee Stafford on summer hair trends and Andrew Gallimore ‘Dior’s UK Ambassador’ on lipstick colours. There are also sections on travel, exhibitions, theatre, film and book reviews, and for the second issue SLiNK will be adding technology, music and television sections. Finally SLiNK has a recipe section run by the Head Chef of the Flemings Hotel in Mayfair, London.
All Walks fully supports SLiNK magazine as we share the view that fashion can be just as aspirational on a range of female shapes, sizes, ages and ethnicities, not just on the 'standard' size models usually seen in fashion glossies. We both believe that fashion can be a positive force in women's lives, as a way of expressing individuality, creativity and personality, or even as a way to boost confidence. We both strongly believe that fashion can, and should be, inclusive, allowing women of all shapes, sizes, ages and ethnicities to celebrate their bodies through the clothes they wear.
Check out the first issue using the reader below, or directly on the SLiNK website:
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Post by Charlotte Gush
Charlotte is the Online Commissioning Editor for All Walks, based away from the London office in Manchester. 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.
Caryn Franklin visits Edinburgh’s “ALL WALKS” diverse design show
As colleges gear up to show their latest collections at Graduate Fashion Week, we at All Walks can reveal that diversity is firmly on the agenda.Students at Edinburgh College of Art have been working with All Walks on a project that replaces inanimate tailor's dummies with real and opinionated women, who give the students crucial feedback about their designs.
After all, training on a lifeless dummy and a model who is paid to stay silent (both presenting only one body type, and without movement) is not a rounded training, we say!
The fact is that all women, apart from the odd catwalk model, have ordinary bodies and design students must understand the needs of ordinary women if they are to make a lucrative business; and as these great designs show, creativity is not compromised. Emotionally considerate design is possible, and working on a model with a realistic body shape is a necessity.
Why? Well, as Mal Burkinshaw - course leader at Edinburgh College of Art, who has created this project with us - says, it has made a huge impact on the learning of the students.
Mortwenna Darwel, one of the students, agrees, "I gained a much better understanding of the relationship between real women and fashion."
Jennifer Alexander adds: "I feel I've learned a lot from fittings and communicating with my All Walks muse. From this project onwards, I will take into consideration who I design for and how my garment will make the person feel."
We'd like to thank all of the tutors at Edinburgh who have worked hard to embrace diversity by introducing a range of bodies and ages into the training, in order to help students understand the true meaning of emotionally considerate design and practice.
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Post by Caryn Franklin, All Walks co-founder
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Credits: 1. Pam Craig wears blue dress by Shauni Douglas. 2. Eileen Reilly wears green dress by Isabella Lyginou. 3. Sarah Saunders wears red dress by Laura Jayne Nevis, and 4. Collette Nelson wears maroon and pink dress by Louis Anderson Bythell
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Editor Charlotte Gush, on Twitter @CavaCharlotte
The Ever Changing Female ‘Ideal’: 1960 - 2010 (part 2)
I completely love everything about the 1960’s, the fashion, the music, the art and the entire zeitgeist of the decade. However, the curvy and glamorous ideal of previous decades changed suddenly to a preference for slim, boyish frames. Female ideals consisted of very slight, slim figures, with short pixie crops and heavy eye make up. The fashion encouraged women to look like young girls, with short shift dresses showing off full legs, and boxed jackets not allowing the waist to be cinched in. Most women wanted a boyish frame with fashion models becoming slim for the first time since the 1920’s female ideal. The contrast from 1950-1960’s was evidently huge and could be considered one of the biggest changes in the ever-changing 'ideal' of the female form throughout the decades.
The 1970’s again promoted the female body ideal as slim and slender. This image shows a 1970’s fashion model, showing less skin and flesh than a 1960’s model but still with an innocent look. However, the late seventies allowed women to dress with freedom and with maxi dresses and flares being high on the fashion front, women were able to cover many parts of their body with voluminous clothing and long tousled hair. The unkempt look was popular and 'bed-head' hair was seen for the first time, in the decade of peace and love!
The 1980’s female ideal often celebrated the legs, with very high cut swimwear and underwear. Shoulder pads were worn to emphasise the new power that some women had in their careers.
The 1990s made women want to look healthy. With toned, muscled slender bodies as the ideal female shape, women took exercise and health very seriously. Women wanted to be ‘girl next door’ character, with a natural and fresh appearance. This gave women a chance to work out alongside men at the gym and take sports seriously for the first time; the 1990s saw women want to be gym bunnies!
In the 'naught-ies', the size zero issue has become prominent and the debate is long from being over. Skinny models are seen all over the catwalks and many 'average' women aspire to be as skinny as possible, with this issue sometimes taking over their lives. Women are bombarded with diets, fitness regimes and celebrities showcasing the skinny 'ideal'. Today we are trying to tackle the pressure on women to be skinny, emphasizing that they should be able to celebrate their body no matter what shape, size, age or ethnicity they may be.
Join us in showing the decade that we’re happy with our bodies and that we want to celebrate body diversity!
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Post by Zina Graber
Zina is a fashion styling student from Cornwall who has a huge interest in celebrating the female form and individuality through styling. I want to be part of changing women’s negative perceptions of themselves so I have recently created a campaign that promotes global style and fashion diversity. The idea is to collect photos of individuals around the world, no matter who you are and showcase you’re style to the world. Check out "What Ya Wearing World?" and find Zina on Twitter @whatyawearingw
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Images linked to source
Editor Charlotte Gush, on Twitter @CavaCharlotte
Glamour Espana: My most beautiful flaw
When I read the title of the article, ?My most beautiful flaw? in the May issue of Spanish Glamour magazine, I was shocked to see the word flaw related to something positive. I kept on reading and realized that the article was more an illustrated report, featuring five models with special physical characteristics – usually considered to be flaws – which, in their cases, made a positive differentiation in their careers.
The cases portrayed are the plus size model Jennie Runk, the model Verena – whose eyes are different colors, the black albino model Diandra Forrest, the Italian model Amanda Lopes - who has a protuberant nose, and Sabine, a black model who keeps her natural afro hairstyle.
In my opinion, Glamour’s approach is an interesting attempt to show diverse beauty. However, not all the images are equally surprising or rare, and I don’t believe that keeping natural afro hair or not getting surgery on a Mediterranean nose should be considered big differences inside the fashion industry.
Nevetheless, I recognize that these women send a positive message about uniqueness by feeling good about the differences that make them special. I only hope we can see them soon on Glamour’s fashion shoots.
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Post by Maria Llanos
Our voice from Spain! After graduating in Business Administration, María worked in marketing at L’oréal for almost 3 years. After this period, she decided to develop her creativity by studying an MA in Design Studies at Central Saint Martins, where she developed her thesis around the evolution of the ideal female beauty concept and got to know All Walks. Currently, María is working at a Communication agency in Madrid. Check out all her posts here, and on Twitter @merillanos.
*** All images courtesy of Glamour Espana
Editor Charlotte Gush, on Twitter @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
Nigella Lawson and the “Burkini” Debate
She is the British food writer and self proclaimed ‘domestic goddess,’ known equally for her Rubenesque figure as she is for her mouth watering recipes. So when Nigella Lawson was photographed on Bondi Beach dressed in what has been described as a “burkini,” it was guaranteed to spark a debate. Why did she cover up? And more to the point- why do we care?
Suggested theories behind her choice of clothing range from it being a political statement, to extreme protection from the sun in an attempt to retain her alabaster complexion; either way Lawson was expressing her right to dress in a manner that she deemed suitable for the occasion.
Who would blame her if she was covering up to avoid the criticism faced by famous women whilst on the beach? As a woman of a certain age, and of a size which does not conform to conventional ideals, Lawson would no doubt come under the scrutiny of the usual host of women’s weekly magazines. The familiar ‘circle of shame,’ used to highlight even the smallest of ‘imperfections,’ reinforces negative body image instead of embracing diversity and empowering women.
As a fuller figured woman who seems comfortable in her own skin, Nigella Lawson represents an army of women who realise that there is more to life than what the weekly rags deem the perfect ‘bikini body.’
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Post by Emma Case
Emma is a Fashion Marketing and Communications graduate who currently works as Sample Co-ordinator at a fashion trimmings company, she also works freelance as a fashion writer at Yogoego.com. Catch Emma on Twitter @EmmaOffDuty
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Editor Charlotte Gush, on Twitter @CavaCharlotte
FASHION SIZES ASKED TO BE CLOSER TO REAL SIZES
A new initiative called “Motivos para dar la talla” has been created in Catalonia – Spain – with the purpose of reducing the big difference between real sizes and the sizes used in fashion catwalks. Around 50 people from the cultural and social sectors of Catalonia have showed their support to the Facebook page of this initiative (Motius per donar la talla). This initiative has been developed as a result of the expulsion of the Catalonian designer Elena Miró – plus-size women’s fashion brand - from the Milan Fashion Week last September. Elena Miró, who dresses women above European size 44, has been present in the Milan Fashion Week since 2005. The initiative tries to start the consumers’ debate about how fashion images can damage the society and how fashion standards should be closer to reality. post by: MARIA LLANOS reporting for Body Diversity from Spain for All Walks Beyond the Catwalk“All asses were not created equal”.
Levi’s has launched a new line of custom fit jeans made to fit the curve of a woman’s body. This new line, Levi’s Curve ID, utilizes a revolutionary fit system based on shape, not size and was created as a result of studying more than 60,000 body scans and listening to women around the world of all shapes and sizes.
There are three types of Curve ID:
Slight Curve – designed to celebrate straight figures
Demi Curve – designed to fit even proportions
Bold Curve– designed to honor genuine curves
The singer Lykke Li, the writer and singer Pixie Geldolf and the DJ and model Miss Nine are the faces of this campaign, being Slight Curve, Demi Curve and Bold Curve respectively.
With this campaign, Levi’s becomes the denim brand which focuses on shape’s diversity and adapts its products to their consumers. Levi’s sends a key message: we should not be ashamed if our body doesn’t fit size standards because these standards are not the right ones, just the standards of one type of body.
We should rethink our preconcieved ideas about fashion standards and open our minds. As Levi’s slogan claims, “This is not about size but shape” and “All asses were not created equal”.
post by: MARIA LLANOS
reporting for
Body Diversity from Spain
for All Walks Beyond the Catwalk
All Walks - All Talks:Weekly Blog:
All Walks - All Talks:Weekly Blog:
It has been announced today that a plus size runway at NY Fashion Week the event won't be held in conjunction with IMG Fashion Week.
However it will take place right next door to the main tents at The Atrium in Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall on September 15, 2010.
More on the story at: http://www.graziadaily.co.uk/fashion/archive/2010/08/20/a-magic-moment-for-plus-sizers.htm
The Sartorialist Courts Controversy with Curvy Comments
Of course you would look at her, sashaying through the streets of Milan in her electric blue heels. She’s elegant, that’s for sure. Stylish? Definitely. But curvy? That seems to have hit a nerve. When esteemed photo-blogger Scott Schuman 'The Sartorialist' recently described one of his street style subjects ‘sturdy’ and ‘curvy’, the omnipresent size debate found paper and a match. Readers voiced their outrage, condemning his choice of words, and suggesting he should have described her as ‘normal’ instead.
But the way I see it, one relatively small event has unpacked bigger, more profound debates. Like what exactly is ‘normal’? And what’s so wrong with being curvy, anyway? I always think that matters of appearance are entirely subjective. And, with the variety of shapes and sizes of beautiful women being myriad – I never buy into that fact that we can all neatly slot into one of four fruit-themed categories – can we ever really say somebody has a ‘normal’ figure? I mean, Sophie Dahl is 5”11. Hayden Panettiere is 5”1. Both women are beautiful. But which is ‘normal’? Variety should be celebrated, not inconsiderately characterised and assigned ill-fitting labels. In his rebuttal, the Schuman himself said much the same thing, adding: “I am proud to be a blog[ger] showing women of different sizes. I don't want to lose the potential power of the post by being caught up in wordplay.”
Are people getting angry about the wrong thing here? Yes, to thousands of readers, and I must say, myself, this woman looks lean and healthy, and perhaps ‘curvy’ was not the perfect way to describe her. But does it matter that he did? Why should the word 'curvy' carry any negative connotations at all? Long, lean, petite, curvy; women should be proud of their shape, whatever it may be.
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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
Jul 11, 2011 | Categories: Blog | Tags: +size, All walks, all walks beyond the catwalk, Angelika, curvy, curvy blogger, curvy comment, Scott Schuman, sturdy, The Sartorialist | Comments Off