Runway models are getting skinnier, Vogue Business report finds

Models on the runway are getting even skinnier, Vanessa Friedman writes in The New York Times. During the last ready-to-wear season, the Vogue Business size inclusivity report found that out of 9,038 looks in 198 women’s wear shows, 97.1 percent were shown on models who were U.S. sizes 0 to 4, and less than 1 percent of models qualified as plus size, or curve.

Friedman notes there was a moment when fashion seemed to be inching toward body positivity: Paloma Elsesser was on the cover of Vogue in 2020 and joined the VS Collective in 2021, helping midsize models gain traction and reducing tokenism. But she writes that that moment is over and that the backlash to “wokeness” has swept up size inclusivity.

Practical runway factors also push toward smaller sizes. Runway collections are generally made of sample garments designed in a standard size; varying sizes on the catwalk requires changing patterns and rethinking a complicated system. Friedman also cites conventional industry wisdom that clothes look better on women “shaped like hangers,” not the padded silk kind but the narrow wire kind.

Friedman says the GLP-1 revolution has altered the visual landscape as formerly larger-size public figures shrink and perceptions of what qualifies as “skinny” move smaller and more desirable. She argues that combination of cultural and logistical forces creates a gravitational pull toward an ever‑shrinking human form on the runway.

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