Plus-size models reopen debate

AP

A model presents a Mark Fast creation at London Fashion Week.

AP

A model presents a Mark Fast creation at London Fashion Week.

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Usually the domain of the waifishly thin, London's catwalk got a dose of realism when knitwear designer Mark Fast deployed several plus-size models to fill his skintight creations.

The Canadian-born Fast was at the center of a minor stir at last season's Fashion Week after media suggested that a stylist had quit over his decision to use plus-size models - something the stylist reportedly denied.

Whatever the case, the 29-year-old stuck to his guns, drawing on curvier women to show off his autumn/winter 2010 collection - although some of the more familiar, far thinner models were still out in force.

Fast's use of at least some plus-size women feeds in to the debate over whether it's appropriate for the fashion industry to keep employing the thinnest of the thin to carry its clothing.

Several years ago London's Fashion Week was at the center of a debate over whether to bar such models from the catwalk. But in 2008 organizers dropped proposals for mandatory medical tests for models, saying their counterparts in Milan, Paris and New York were unhappy with the idea.

Designer Bora Aksu was quoted as telling Britain's Sky News that the fashion industry was embracing normal-sized women, saying they had become "more noticeable" over the past couple of seasons.

But Sarah Watkinson, the founder of 12+ UK, the agency that supplied some of the models, said that while Fast was "very committed" to showing his clothes on realistic-looking women, no other designers at London Fashion Week were using her models. At catwalk shows across the capital over the weekend, rail thin figures were still the norm.

Perhaps Fast's work - which he designs using a domestic knitting machine - lends itself to more natural-looking women. He is known for stitching techniques which blend Lycra with viscose, angora or wool.

The dark violet, rose red and navy blue dresses unveiled Saturday clung to every fold of skin, with patterns of holes poked into the fabric to make them look extra stretchy.

Also showing Saturday was House of Holland, whose young designer Henry Holland seemed to have run the better part of his collection through a highway striper. There were stripes on dresses, stripes running across the coat, and a white garter that stood out like a pair of stripes on the model's tanned legs.

With so many white lines running across the room, the show sometimes looked like a group of models had escaped from a very fashionable jail.

Greek-born Mary Katrantzou showed off an outfit accessorized with a breastpiece that looked like a giant gold windchime, while John Rocha displayed an attractive collection of layered shearling, leather and felt wool coats for men that blew away the rest of his work.

And in a rather dark and staid collection, the design team PPQ focused almost exclusively on black and gold.

London Fashion Week runs until Wednesday.

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On the Net:

London Fashion Week: http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/

- AP