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Dec 18, 2013

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V magazine — the most avant-garde and directional of any American fashion book — releases its “Size” issue next week featuring real size women. Solve Sundsbo/V Magazine

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Plus-size model Crystal Renn, who wrote a classic of the model-memoir genre, 2009’s “Hungry,” was the inspiration for the idea to use real-size women like the one above, says V magazine creative director Stephen Gan. After meeting Renn over lunch during Fashion Week last fall, he found himself oddly moved. Solve Sundsbo/V Magazine

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All of the models in the shoot wore stretchy tops, bathing suits, and, in some cases, nothing. Solve Sundsbo/V Magazine

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After Gan saw the trailer for “Precious” he, again, felt oddly compelled by star Gabby Sidibe, who weighs about 300 pounds. “I don’t know what triggered it. I don’t want to sound like a fashion person, make this sound like a trend — but for the last three months I have been obsessed with bigger girls!” he says. Solve Sundsbo/V Magazine

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This is far from the first time a plus-size model, like this woman, has been featured on glossy magazine pages. Beth Ditto — the 200-plus-pound frontwoman for the Gossip — recently posed for the premiere issue of cutting-edge UK fashion mag Love. Solve Sundsbo/V Magazine

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But since then, there have been other indicators that the emaciated aesthetic is shifting. Recently, Glamour magazine published an unretouched photo of 20-year-old model Lizzie Miller, belly flab visible, to the overwhelming delight of its readers. Solve Sundsbo/V Magazine

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The 12-page shoot inside V magazine’s new Size issue hits stands next week. Solve Sundsbo/V Magazine

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Further proof that views toward size are changing, supermodel Lara Stone was recently profiled in Vogue, confessing to an eating disorder that drove her to alcoholism (she has since recovered.) ‘When they say ‘curvy,’ you know they mean ‘fat,’ ” she told the magazine. (Stone is a size 4.) Solve Sundsbo/V Magazine

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“How do you say this in a way that’s not hurtful to anyone?” Gan asks. “In this world, when a girl’s called ‘beautiful,’ sometimes my reaction to that is: In what terms? In fashion terms? Beauty pageant terms? Real people terms? I wish I could just say, ‘She’s beautiful,’ and leave it at that.” Solve Sundsbo/V Magazine

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