Last but not least: "Plus-size" fat spots

The new year is less than two weeks old and shitstorms are already raging through social media again. If the fashion world wants to pander to those readers and customers who do not conform to the questionable ideas of ideal weight and dream figure, it can backfire. For example, the American edition of women's magazine Cosmopolitan recently caused a storm of indignation when it referred to model Robyn Lawley as a "plus-size supermodel" on Facebook. The picture published was from a bikini shoot for the Australian edition of the magazine. The stumbling block: in the eyes of many readers (and users), Lawley does not look like a real plus-size model in the picture. More like a normal woman with classic feminine curves.

Cosmopolitan has since backtracked and removed the hotly debated image. If the fashion scene ventures into more realistic territory with its size zero ideal images, it is treading on thin ice. One is almost tempted to say: cobbler, stick to your lean last.

Of course, you could learn from this, but you don't have to. How View Online reports, the Swedish fashion chain H&M has now also stepped into the "plus-size" trap. Like Cosmopolitan, the models in the "plus-size" department in the new catalog and online store do not necessarily correspond to what one would imagine to be particularly "large".

H&M assured the Danish TV station TV2 that the women shown were really only "plus-size" models with sizes between 44 and 54. Half the truth, as a Swedish newspaper found out: according to her agency, one of the models is a size 42, but at least for H&M she was wearing a size 44. It can be assumed that the last shitstorm has not yet been unleashed on this topic. After all, the target group advertised seems to be interesting enough from a business point of view - all that's missing is the right communication. (hae)