The seemingly politically-correct Fashion Designer Mark Fast once again used plus-sized models during Fashion Week to showcase his designs. There was a mixture of the usual sized 2 models and plus-sized models on the runway, including Crystal Wrenn (sized 12), who has been in the news since her magazine spread/semi-competition with a size 2 model.

While I am impressed with Mark Fast for his willingness to use models of different sizes,  it doesn’t seem that much consideration was put into how the designs would actually look on the models of different sizes. Let’s face it- some designs are more suitable for the Twiggys of the world and some are better suited to the rest of us.

Crystal Wrenn is absolutely gorgeous, but she doesn’t look like it here. Mark Fast’s dresses (which I actually like) don’t really seem suited to her figure at all. She wasn’t the only plus-sized model on the runway either and from what I saw, the other models were squeezed into their too-small dresses a little too tightly as well.

You can check out more of the pictures here and let me know what you think. I am quite confident that among his collection, he might have found some dresses and/or outfits more suited to those above a sized 10. Did Mark Fast really intend to send the message out to the rest of us that larger women don’t really look as good in his designs as 6’ tall models who weigh 105 lbs. Because that’s the message I got from the photographs I saw.

Instead of just using plus-sized models to draw attention to a collection, I  like the idea of designers actually creating special lines for “normal-looking women”. Of course,  that might take some of the glamour out of Fashion Week and might take some more creativity on the part of the designers. It’s easier to drape a dress on a stick-like model who bears more similarity to a mannequin in her size than it is to truthfully find the right outfit to fit a particular shaped-woman.
Maybe fashion designers should take a cue from TV shows like “What Not to Wear” and the gossip columns that show the celebrities wearing the worst styles for their pictures.  

What do you think about Mark Fast’s choices to use different sized models?