# Plus-size model
A **plus-size model** is a fashion model who works above the industry's straight-size range, modeling clothing, advertising, and editorials intended to represent bodies larger than the standard sample size. The label's boundaries in modeling are looser and lower than in retail clothing: in one documented case, the sociologist Amanda Czerniawski, working as a plus-size model for her research, was classified as plus-sized by the fashion industry at a US size 10, a body type that is not plus-size in ordinary retail practice or in the cultural image of a plus-size woman.[1](https://www.jstor.org/content/oa_book_monograph/j.ctt1287jjg) • [2](https://academic.oup.com/nyu-press-scholarship-online/book/19410/chapter-abstract/178025486)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Definition gap | What counts as plus size in modeling does not match the retail clothing schema or the cultural image of a plus-size woman; the industry has treated a size 10 model as plus-sized.[1](https://www.jstor.org/content/oa_book_monograph/j.ctt1287jjg) • [2](https://academic.oup.com/nyu-press-scholarship-online/book/19410/chapter-abstract/178025486) |
| Population vs. ads | 41.9% of the US population is plus size, but only 7.2% of models in advertisements are plus-sized.[3](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11747-023-00994-8) |
| Runway share | Of 7,817 looks at Fall/Winter 2026 fashion weeks, 97.6% were straight-size (US 0-4), 2.1% mid-size (US 6-12), and 0.3% plus-size (US 14+).[4](https://www.vogue.com/article/the-vogue-business-fall-winter-2026-size-inclusivity-report) |
| Intersectional pattern | Non-White models are 4.5 times more likely to be plus-size than White models, based on 793,199 fashion records spanning 25 years.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13214048/) |
| Body variation | Plus-size models vary more in body type and size than straight-size models, and clients seek larger or smaller plus-size models depending on the job.[2](https://academic.oup.com/nyu-press-scholarship-online/book/19410/chapter-abstract/178025486) |
| Agency example | Curve Models of Hamburg, which says it represents plus-size models exclusively, lists a minimum size 38 (scale not stated) and heights of 172-182 cm.[6](https://jurgita.com/plus-size-model-requirements) |
## Definition and boundaries
The category is defined differently by different parts of the industry. "Plus-size model" covers very different jobs, from shooting products for an online shop to an editorial series for a magazine, and requirements vary accordingly.[6](https://jurgita.com/plus-size-model-requirements) Vogue Business, which tracks size inclusivity season by season, defines plus-size as US 14 and above, mid-size as US 6-12, and straight-size as US 0-4, while noting that in retail the US 14 bracket often represents the upper end of standard sizing rather than a true extended range.[4](https://www.vogue.com/article/the-vogue-business-fall-winter-2026-size-inclusivity-report)
**Variation within the category.** According to Czerniawski's study of the industry, there is more variation among plus-size models in both body type and size than among straight-size models, who are held to a stricter standard. Plus-size retailers hire slightly larger plus-size models than high-end fashion clients do, and models face pressure to modify their bodies in either direction depending on the jobs they want; some lose work for not appearing "plus" enough.[2](https://academic.oup.com/nyu-press-scholarship-online/book/19410/chapter-abstract/178025486) Descriptive terms within and around the category include "curve" and "inbetweenie", and some models have campaigned against the "plus size" label itself.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/nov/10/language-plus-size-modelling-fashion)
## Landmark figures
[Tess Holliday](https://www.edgepedia.org/tess-holliday), at 5'5" and a size 22, became in 2015 the first model of that body shape contracted by a major modeling agency when she signed with MiLK Management.[8](https://time.com/4602640/antm-cycle-23-plus-size-models/) The only plus-size contestant to win the television competition *America's Next Top Model* was Whitney Thompson, in Cycle 10.[8](https://time.com/4602640/antm-cycle-23-plus-size-models/) In recent years Ashley Graham, Precious Lee, and Paloma Elsesser have become the most visible plus-size faces on runways, often the only curvy models in any given show.[9](https://apnews.com/article/992da174c7299495a7f673f304464d09) Graham and Elsesser have achieved superstar status in New York, London, and Dubai, where plus-size agencies are better structured, with support and salaries described as ones "you'd never find in Europe".[10](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/m-le-mag/article/2025/09/13/they-want-us-to-be-big-but-without-any-fat-plus-size-models-face-return-of-thinness-in-the-fashion-industry_6745350_117.html)
## Representation and its limits
A 25-year dataset of 793,199 records covering advertising, magazine covers, runway shows, and editorials documented a paradox: representational diversity increased while the median model physique stayed stable and continued to diverge from the US population. Plus-size inclusion has been concentrated at the upper tail, alongside a thin center.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13214048/) The same study found that non-White models are 4.5 times more likely to be plus-size, and concluded that the industry consolidates multiple markers of diversity onto already underrepresented individuals rather than broadening inclusion structurally.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13214048/)
Season-by-season runway counts show how small the share remains. In Autumn/Winter 2025, of 8,703 looks across 198 shows and presentations, 97.7% were straight-size, 2% mid-size, and 0.3% plus-size, with plus-size representation down from 0.8% the previous season; only 12 brands across the four fashion weeks included any plus-size models, and no plus-size model appeared in any Milan show that season.[11](https://www.vogue.com/article/the-vogue-business-autumn-winter-2025-size-inclusivity-report) By contrast, a single show by the London-based Brazilian designer Karoline Vitto at Milan in September 2023 assembled an entire cast ranging from UK 10 to UK 24 (US 6 to US 20), led by [Ashley Graham](https://www.edgepedia.org/ashley-graham).[9](https://apnews.com/article/992da174c7299495a7f673f304464d09)
## What has changed since the peak
The 2010s brought diversifying campaigns as the body positivity movement gained momentum, with what Aude Perceval, a recruiter at Plus, the leading plus-size modeling agency in France, calls a peak of inclusivity in fashion in 2019 and 2020. Since then her models work less and have shifted from luxury jobs to fast fashion or beauty.[10](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/m-le-mag/article/2025/09/13/they-want-us-to-be-big-but-without-any-fat-plus-size-models-face-return-of-thinness-in-the-fashion-industry_6745350_117.html) The fragile economic situation in ready-to-wear and poor luxury-sector results after the Covid-19 pandemic have made casting plus-size models a risk to be avoided in the industry's view. The plus-size model Sané Lou saw her income fall tenfold over five years and returned to school at age 32; the most established French plus-size models, Leslie Sidora and Clémentine Desseaux, now work abroad, though US visas are difficult to obtain because they require runway shows and editorials that are hard for plus-size models to book.[10](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/m-le-mag/article/2025/09/13/they-want-us-to-be-big-but-without-any-fat-plus-size-models-face-return-of-thinness-in-the-fashion-industry_6745350_117.html)
Figures compiled by Refinery29, drawing on Vogue Business and The Fashion Spot, put non-standard-size models at 2.8% of Paris spring-summer fashion week looks in 2020 and 0.8% in 2025.[12](https://www.lemonde.fr/m-le-mag/article/2025/09/11/on-doit-avoir-des-hanches-des-seins-mais-pas-de-bourrelets-ni-de-cellulite-c-est-biologiquement-impossible-les-mannequins-grande-taille-face-au-retour-du-culte-de-la-maigreur_6640455_4500055.html)
## Effects on audiences and retail
Experimental work on body image finds favorable responses to plus-size imagery. In one study, women reported the greatest body satisfaction and the least social comparison when viewing plus-size models, with satisfaction decreasing and comparison increasing as model size decreased from plus-size to average to thin.[13](https://openurl.ebsco.com/contentitem/doi%3A10.1080/03637751.2017.1332770?id=ebsco%3Adoi%3A10.1080%2F03637751.2017.1332770&sid=ebsco%3Aplink%3Acrawler) In retail settings, a laboratory study found consumers willing to pay more for brands displaying diverse mannequins than for displays using only traditional or only plus-size mannequins, and more likely to choose diverse displays than plus-size-only ones.[14](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11747-026-01197-7?trk=public_post_comment-text)
In e-commerce, model size affects purchase behavior through perceived similarity and fit risk: a thin model, the industry's current standard, raises fit concerns for larger consumers, and letting shoppers choose the model's size mitigates this risk, though plus-size models on the wrong garments can distort product choices.[15](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11747-024-01034-9) Retailers have occasionally acted on this logic early: [H&M](https://www.edgepedia.org/h-and-m) has used plus-size models for its swimwear lines since 2013.[16](https://imidas.jp/genre/detail/L-113-0351.html)
## Regulation
Research on body-size trends has compared two regulatory interventions descriptively and concluded that numeric thresholds may be more effective than flexible guidelines at reducing underweight appearances.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13214048/)
## References
1. [Fashioning Fat: Inside Plus-Size Modeling, JSTOR](https://www.jstor.org/content/oa_book_monograph/j.ctt1287jjg)
2. [Amanda M. Czerniawski, "Models of All (Plus) Sizes?", Fashioning Fat, NYU Press Scholarship Online](https://academic.oup.com/nyu-press-scholarship-online/book/19410/chapter-abstract/178025486)
3. [Diversity representation in advertising, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11747-023-00994-8)
4. [The Vogue Business Fall/Winter 2026 Size Inclusivity Report, Vogue](https://www.vogue.com/article/the-vogue-business-fall-winter-2026-size-inclusivity-report)
5. [Cultural evolution of beauty standards, PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13214048/)
6. [Plus Size Model Requirements, Jurgita](https://jurgita.com/plus-size-model-requirements)
7. [Inbetweenie, life-size and curve: the language of plus-size modelling, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/nov/10/language-plus-size-modelling-fashion)
8. [ANTM's New Season Features Zero Plus-Size Models, Time](https://time.com/4602640/antm-cycle-23-plus-size-models/)
9. [Diversity and inclusion celebrated in Milan, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/992da174c7299495a7f673f304464d09)
10. [Plus-size models face return of thinness in the fashion industry, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/m-le-mag/article/2025/09/13/they-want-us-to-be-big-but-without-any-fat-plus-size-models-face-return-of-thinness-in-the-fashion-industry_6745350_117.html)
11. [The Vogue Business Autumn/Winter 2025 size inclusivity report, Vogue](https://www.vogue.com/article/the-vogue-business-autumn-winter-2025-size-inclusivity-report)
12. [Des mannequins "plus size" à l'ère du retour de la maigreur, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/m-le-mag/article/2025/09/11/on-doit-avoir-des-hanches-des-seins-mais-pas-de-bourrelets-ni-de-cellulite-c-est-biologiquement-impossible-les-mannequins-grande-taille-face-au-retour-du-culte-de-la-maigreur_6640455_4500055.html)
13. [Is plus size equal? Communication Monographs via EBSCO](https://openurl.ebsco.com/contentitem/doi%3A10.1080/03637751.2017.1332770?id=ebsco%3Adoi%3A10.1080%2F03637751.2017.1332770&sid=ebsco%3Aplink%3Acrawler)
14. [Beyond the standard: The impact of mannequin body diversity on brand perceptions and consumer behavior, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11747-026-01197-7?trk=public_post_comment-text)
15. [One size does not fit all: Optimizing size-inclusive model photography mitigates fit risk in online fashion retailing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11747-024-01034-9)
16. [プラスサイズファッション, imidas 時事用語事典](https://imidas.jp/genre/detail/L-113-0351.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Food, customs, and everyday culture › Clothing, textiles, and domestic crafts › Fashion and commercial models › Fashion and runway models*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license