“We would love for you to attend our fashion month show.”
Me: “Are you providing dressing options?”
“Nothing in your size, sadly, but we do have these really fun earrings!”
In 2019, this was a common conversation I had with many London Fashion Week shows. It became rather tedious and, honestly, quite offensive.
For many years, as a plus-size woman, I'd been made to feel grateful to even be invited to these fashion month shows because, quite frankly, I didn’t have the acceptable ‘fashion-worthy body’ that's so prevalent in the fashion industry – even though I had nearly a decade’s worth of high-end fashion editorials, billboards, beauty campaigns and articles under my name. My size was definitely still an issue. Plus-size models were definitely still an issue.
Sometimes, the best action is off the catwalks.
So, for the last four years, I've been recording how many curve or plus-size models walk down the runway across the four main fashion weeks, as part of my #IncludingTheCurve series. With Fashion Month done for AW26, here's our full report.
NEW YORK FASHION WEEK AW26
When Ozempic first took off in the US, it was accompanied by a return to ‘heroin chic’, which had a huge influence on New York's Autumn/Winter collections back in 2022. After some deserved backlash, designers booked more curve models for the Spring/Summer collections later in the year. But the numbers have been dwindling ever since, averaging at around 40 models each season in 2024, followed by a 50% drop in both Feb 2025 and Feb 2026.
Gone are the days when the US was a leader in runway size inclusivity. Again, in 2026, there was no male plus-size representation, which is highly disappointing for the city that used to be a leader in inclusion.
With over 96 designers showing this season and an average of 40 looks per show, there were around 3840 looks on the runways.
20 of them were considered curve or plus.
The designer who loyally flies the flag for representation season after season is Christian Siriano, who cast six plus-size girls on his runway this season – two fewer than the previous season.
Kim Shui, Jade Wade, Eckhaus Latta, Di Petsa, and Kallmeyer all featured curve models.
NYFW IN NUMBERS:
49 plus-size models Sept 2022
31 plus-size models Feb 2023
70 plus-size models Sept 2023
42 plus-size models Feb 2024
46 plus-size models in Sept 2024
23 plus-size models in Feb 2025
46 plus-size models in Sept 2025
20 plus-size models in Feb 2026
LONDON FASHION WEEK AW26
With over 40 designers showing this season, with an average of 35 looks per show, there were around 1,400 looks on the runways.
42 of them were considered curve or plus.
That is 20.7% lower than last season; then again, we didn't have Sinead O'Dwyer and her incredible inclusive vision, which I believe would have maintained around the same numbers as last year. However, collections by Sinead Gorey, Karoline Vitto, and Phoebe English all showed a range of body types on the catwalk.
I do think it's unfair that we have to always rely on the independent designers who understand the importance and influence of diversity. Why is it always the smaller designers taking the risk both financially and emotionally to have a broader range of sizes, and why aren't the high-end fashion houses with a plethora of funding, resources and staff working on extended measurements and inclusive casting?
For me, I truly believe it's just internal fatphobia, because let's face it, the plus size market is currently worth £252 billion worldwide and £12 billion in the UK, and I can't fathom another reason why you wouldn't want a piece of that pie, aside from the fact you just don't want larger bodies in your clothes.
LFW IN NUMBERS
45 plus-size models Sept 2022
71 plus-size models Feb 2023
85 plus-size models Sept 2023
67 plus-size models Feb 2024
80 plus-size models Sept 2024
26 plus-size models Feb 2025
53 plus-size models Sept 2025
42 plus-size models Feb 2026
MILAN FASHION WEEK AW26
With over 59 designers showing this season, with an average of 49 looks per show, there were around 2655 models on the runways.
5 of them were considered curve or plus.
That is 44.4% lower than last season and the lowest since I started this report back in 2022.
The last time Milan offered any chance of showing size inclusivity was September 2023, when Karoline Vitto showcased 30-plus-size models in her SS24 show in collaboration with Dolce & Gabbana. It’s just been declining since.
Marco Rambaldi has been the only designer consistently showing curve models in Milan for the last few years, with three of the five this season coming from his show.
But aside from Rambaldi, it is incredibly disheartening to see the obvious decline in Milan, and it feels like it won’t be long till curve is totally eradicated in their city.
MFW IN NUMBERS
14 plus-size models Sept 2022
15 plus-size models Feb 2023
45 plus-size models Sept 2023
13 plus-size models Feb 2024
14 plus-size models Sept 2024
10 plus-size models Feb 2025
9 plus-size models Sept 2025
5 plus-size models Feb 2026
PARIS FASHION WEEK AW26
With over 100 designers showing this season, with an average of 45 looks per show, there were around 4500 models on the runways.
18 of them were considered curve or plus.
That is 37.9% lower than last season.
Once again, without Ester Manas, who would always fly the flag for curve representation in Paris, they are back with the lower representation.
We had four curve looks from Institut Francais De La Mode, three from Max Hova, two from CFCL, Balenciaga, Cecile Bahnsen and one from Nina Ricci, Mossi, Matieres Fecales, Jacquemus and Julie Kegels.
It really does feel like the switch has been turned off for size inclusion in Paris. I was once hopeful, especially when Rick Owens’ SS25 show had 16 plus-size models on his runway. I guess I hoped there would be actual change, but since then, he has removed all curve representation. Was that moment back in October 2024 just a PR stunt? Plus-size bodies deserve to be represented authentically and not as a gimmick.
PFW IN NUMBERS:
33 plus-size models Sept 2022
40 plus-size models Feb 2023
28 plus-size models Sept 2023
39 plus-size models Feb 2024
43 plus-size models Sept 2024
23 plus-size models Feb 2025
29 plus-size models Sept 2025
18 plus-size models Feb 2026
TOTAL AW26 PLUS-SIZE REPRESENTATION
1st place London (1st last season)
2nd place New York (2nd last season)
3rd place Paris (3rd last season)
4th place Milan (4th last season)
Were you surprised by this season's #IncludingTheCurve results?
Do you think Ozempic has contributed to the fact that New York, Milan and Paris had the lowest plus-size representation since I started this report in 2022?
Will London be able to keep the crown of being the leader when it comes to inclusive fashion on the catwalk (even though they were down by 20.7% this season), and do Milan care that they are at the bottom consistently?
Personally, I still believe there should be so much more, but the stats I am finding each season with #IncludingTheCurve really show who is championing us, who is leading by example, who is experimenting and who is simply afraid or even worse, doesn’t care.
Let's keep up the pressure and keep everything crossed for more progress by the September 2026 shows.
For more from Curve model and author Felicity Hayward, follow her on Instagram at @felicityhayward.
