Plus-size trend to continue in 2010

(AFP PHOTO/FRANCOIS GUILLOT)

Following pro-plus-size moves by publications including US Glamour and the German Brigitte, the edgy V Magazine is planning a 'Size' issue, featuring models of "all shapes and sizes," for January, Relaxnews confirms.

In a rare occasion of the mainstream influencing an 'indie magazine,' plus-size top model Crystal Renn - who already starred in Glamour's 'curvy' November issue - and other well-rounded women are going to appear in fashion spreads shot by leading photographers including Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin, Terry Richardson, Bruce Weber and Karl Lagerfeld.

And yes, that's the same Karl Lagerfeld who said earlier this year that "no one wants to see curvy women" and that "you've got fat mothers with their bags of chips sitting in front of the television and saying that thin models are ugly."

Apparently, V's editor-in-chief Stephen Gan has turned the Chanel designer's world upside down. Gan told the New York Post: "Big, little, pint-size, plus-size - every body is beautiful. And this issue is out to prove it."

The problem with this seemingly good idea? Fashion and celebrity blog Jezebel puts it well: "Much like when Italian Vogue did an 'all-black issue,' the flipside of highlighting one kind of model in a 'special' issue is that they're actually being segregated, placed in a ghetto, away from the other 'real' models."

However, Glamour's and Brigitte's plans seem to be more long-term, with the latter replacing 'size zero models' by 'normal women' altogether from next year (following protests by its readers), and Glamour stated that it would be "committing to picturing a wide range of body types in our pages. [...] Diversity of every type. We just want to say there are a million ways to be beautiful and you don't have to fit that cookie cutter standard. And we're going to celebrate the designers who help us do that."

The magazine has also produced a plus-size calendar for 2010 that comes as a reward for subscribing to Glamour.

V's 'Size' issue will hit newsstands from January 12.

www.vmagazine.com