Across the Atlantic, at Paris Fashion Week, the plus-size model movement is farther along than it was during New York Fashion Week. Crystal Renn was the only notable full-figured model who was cast for Zac Posen's Z-Spoke show during New York Fashion Week. Earlier this week, Renn told People, "I'm freaking out. Zac is one of the ones you want. Zac, Calvin and Marc are the big three. I booked one of my big three." Zac Posen wants to be able to fit and have women buy his clothes who are a number of shapes and sizes. "They are making the clothes for my size and everything," said Renn. "This is how fashion should be."
Jean Paul Gaultier is no stranger to spotlighting plus size models in his fashion shows. During Paris Fashion Week Gaultier showcased his Spring 2011 Ready to Wear collection by opening and closing the show with full figured and confident Gossip singer, Beth Ditto. Gaultier also featured Crystal Renn and Marquita Pring into his rocker chic spring collection. Gaultier told reporters after the show, "What counts is personality, there is not just the one form of stereotyped beauty. This collection's pleats can be worn by any size and adapt to different body shapes."
British Vogue editor, Alexandra Shulman, would like to see more "normal" sized women on the high fashion catwalk. "Instead of a fuss being made about a few cause celebre exceptions on the catwalk," said Shulman. "What I'd really like instead is for most models to be a size 10 rather than a size 8."
Crystal Renn, one of my favorite supermodel, putting her footprint on the fashion world in a very positive way. The size 10 model, who recently documented her years of anorexia in a memoir called Hungry, broke barriers during New York Fashion Week by walking in Zac Posen's ZSpoke show. Last week, she walked in Zac Posen's ready to wear show, as well as in Jean Paul Gaultier and Chanel's fashion shows in Paris.
Renn doesn't feel out of place on the runway that is notorious for uber-slim models gliding across. In an interview with People magazine Renn is proud to be "a real breakthrough," she says. "I'm here to be treated like any other girl. It doesn't matter my size. It doesn't matter who I am. I'm going on castings like everybody else. Renn acknowledges that there are more diverse models on the runway now than there ever have been. "When I first started, the girls were all blonde, all emaciated and miserable looking. Now there's more ethnic diversity. The girls are not as skinny as before. You do see size 6s and a couple size 8s. There is more allowance for people to be different."
