The past couple of years have seen the body positivity movement take a major hit. Despite originally being used as a treatment for diabetes, Semaglutide (also known as Ozempic and Wegovy) was approved by the NHS for weight loss use in 2023. Users inject themselves once a week to suppress their appetite, and celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Amy Schumer and Elon Musk have spoken about using it — but given the drastic change in appearance of many other famous figures, it’s clearly much more popular.
Fashion does not exist in a bubble — it reflects the wider culture (for better or worse) and this was clearly evident on the Autumn/Winter 2025 runways. Ultra-skinny is once again being pushed as the body type du jour by designers across the globe. Influencer and model Felicity Hayward started tracking exactly how many plus-size models are cast per season back in 2019, through her diversity report called Including The Curve.
For Autumn/Winter 2025 she calculated that in New York, 23 out of 3640 models were considered curve or plus size (50% less than last season) and in London there were 26 out of 1600 (68% less than last season). Milan and Paris, who tend to fall short on inclusivity at the best of times, had 10 and 22 plus-size models this season respectively.Writing on Instagram, Hayward said: "I wish the industry respected our larger silhouettes more than just some throw away toy they have disposed of because it’s not trendy anymore.
"A model at the Ludovic de Saint Ser.
