Last edit: 24Sept2009
The British media have been all over a story related to a designer from the All Walks Beyond the Catwalk event. It seems that knitwear designer Mark Fast had a bit of a row with his stylist over the casting of larger models in his solo Spring 2010 presentation – namely Hayley Morley, Gwyneth Harrison and Laura Catterall from 12+ UK agency. Hayley was given the honour of first girl out on stage.
From WWD.com (photos by Giovanni Giannoni)
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The full show can be viewed online here via Swaroski.tv.
“The decision to use the fuller girls is something we have been talking about,” she said. “We wanted women to know they don’t have to be a size zero to wear a Mark Fast dress – curvier women can look even better in one. There’s this idea that only thin and slender women are able to wear Mark’s dresses and he wanted to combat that.” She would not divulge exactly what was said on Thursday night before the freelance pair left the team, saying “we don’t want to talk about the ugly bits, we want to talk about the beautiful bits”.
For those who might have missed my previous post, Mark Fast had included size 42/UK 12 Hayley Morley in both his i-D shoot and All Walks catwalk presentation.
London journalist Sarah Mower(via Style.com):
Larger-sized women championed by London’s cult leader of skinny, cobwebby knitted dressing? Unlikely but true and, when it came to it, Mark Fast courageously followed through on his convictions. “A lot of people think it’s not appropriate to use plus-size models,” he said. “But I met these girls and I loved their charisma. They’re just jewels, you know?” He needed to keep his nerve about it. According to Amanda May, Fast’s managing director, his show stylist quit over the designer’s insistence on including three models from a plus agency on the runway amongst regular girls.That incident is certain to detonate a media furor in which Fast may find himself accused of stirring up self-publicity—but anyone who encountered the soft-spoken 28-year-old Canadian backstage would pick up on the fact that he isn’t like that.
As reported by Ellen Widdup of The Evening Standard:
She (Kurihara) accepted she had rowed with the designer but said it was because the larger models did not have the right walk and not because of their size. “Two of the bigger girls, although their faces were beautiful and their bodies beautiful, did not have the right walk for the catwalk,” she said. “The walk is very important and I wasn’t happy. Mark was very upset that I didn’t share his vision, as he saw it, so he asked me to leave.” She said Fast had failed to embrace diversity by introducing the larger models because they were all white. “I find that strange if you are celebrating diversity,” she added.
(note to Mark Fast: please knit nice undies to put under your dresses. K thx bye)
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Sorry to say Erika, but non-white models have had more opportunities on international runways than plus-size women.
this contretemps would have been more interesting if the models had been more attractive. the clothes aren't my taste but i can see their appeal, but the models just make me wonder if the stylist was really opposing the east german prison guard look..
Perhaps you might like to look at other posts about Hayley and Laura on this site before deciding they are unattractive. After all, a working model that is unattractive is something of a paradox, yes?