Fashion insider’s post about ‘completely unrealistic’ sample sizes goes viral

Francesca Burns has called on the wider fashion industry to ‘open things up to be more inclusive’

(Instagram / Francesca Burns)

An Instagram post from a fashion insider lamenting clothing brands’ sample dress sizes as “completely unrealistic for the majority” has gone viral.

Stylist and former Vogue fashion editor Francesca Burns took to social media to voice her frustration that a model (who she stated to be UK size 8 “at most”) wasn’t able to fit into any samples from French fashion brand Celine. For Burns, this sets an irresponsible example.

“Can we make our sample sizes bigger please?” her post began. “I never want anyone on my set to be made to feel “less than.”

The jeans that are pictured in the post weren’t the only problem. Burns went on to say that she “had several looks from this collection and none of them fit [the model]. She was not the exception – you are.”

She then took aim at what this says about the wider fashion industry and the normalisation of smaller dress sizes, even though it may not reflect the majority of the people who wear or shop these clothes.

“This is so unacceptable – it is fundamentally wrong to suggest that this is the norm. It isn’t,” she posted. “We have a responsibility in this industry to celebrate and to empower and to make people feel great.”

“We also have a responsibility for those in our care on set and to make sure beauty standards are not limited to a size that is completely unrealistic for the majority – nobody should look at fashion imagery and feel bad about themselves.”

Burns called out both Celine and one of the brand’s designers Hedi Slimane for the impact this had on both herself and her model. “Putting this girl into these trousers made me feel like a twisted creep and my beautiful model feel like she wasn’t good enough so thank you for that.”

“How hard is it to size things up? Any stylist worth their safety pins won’t complain about it.”

The post was met with support from Burns’ fans and colleagues, and has received over 134,000 likes on Instagram at time of writing. In a more recent post, she has reflected on the “overwhelming response” she’s received.

“We need to address this very singular representation of body image in fashion – and open things up to be more inclusive across the board,” she said.

Celine declined to provide comment when approached by The Independent.