OG plus-size model Felicity Hayward boycotted London Fashion Week in 2019 over the lack of size diversity on the runway. From the rise of Ozempic to Eli Lilly (which makes weight-loss medications) sponsoring Vogue World 2026, the pendulum is swinging far away from the body positivity movement, which is why Hayward’s ongoing Including the Curve fashion diversity report is more important now than ever. Her latest analysis of London Fashion Week’s spring/summer 2027 shows found there were 56.3% fewer curve models.
The findings are usually published in Glamour UK, but for the first time in four years, the magazine decided not to commission it. After sitting on the news, Hayward posted a video about the decision, which drew 157,000 views and 626 comments.
The activist and author spoke to CORQ a few days after posting the Reel and said: “A mix of things happening at once made me feel that it was time that I needed to say, ‘Glamour isn’t running this, and they’re not giving me a reason’. It’s a scary time to speak out on things like this because [this is a] big, big publication that I’ve worked with for a long time, but I also don’t agree with the decision.”
@felicityhayward If you wanted proof that the fashion industry really is trying to silence plus size voices, here it is. I’m really gutted this has happened #includingthecurve #lfw #mfw #fashionweek #plussize
The goal wasn’t to cause a commotion, but to alert her followers that the report wouldn’t be coming. More than that, she explained: “It’s the bigger picture here. It’s that plus-size voices are being silenced, and [this has] proved my point.”
The impact of fashion week on society
The runway influences society. As the famous The Devil Wears Prada monologue goes, all the high street stores take inspiration from the fashion houses – and this includes sizing.
“If we have these big designers showing [their creations on plus-size models], brands are more likely to say, ‘Oh okay, we’re going to make sure that we have everything in curve as well as normal’. But when there’s none, their plus-size section will just get ignored.”
Including the Curve started in 2022 as an Instagram account that now has more than 4,000 followers, and Hayward analyses how many plus-size models walked in New York, London, Paris and Milan to hold designers accountable.
@felicityhayward 56.3% less curve representation at @LONDON FASHION WEEK this season, we need to do better 🥺 #dipesta #londonfashionweek #burberry #includingthecurve #lfw
“We are all guilty of seeing one show at fashion month that uses a curve celebrity or model, and you suddenly think, ‘Oh, they’re inclusive’. They’ve ticked a box, and we just go, ‘Oh, isn’t that amazing? Chanel used a curve model’, and then we feel that they are being inclusive. But then the next season, they cut it all. So we’ve had scenarios where we’ve seen designers put six or eight curve models [in] one season and then none the next. It’s cosplaying with inclusivity.”
Including the Curve’s data
According to her data, the most inclusive fashion weeks were in 2023 – this was a fight against the rise of Ozempic, which rose among the Hollywood elite in 2022. She counted 70 curve models featured in New York in September of that year, while London’s presentations for the same season had 85 plus-size models. Milan had 45 plus-size models that season (which Hayward noted was because Karoline Vitto held her show there – typically the city ranks the lowest in curve representation), and Paris’ most body-diverse season was September 2024 with 43 models. Overall, the numbers have “gone up and down and up and down, aligning with what is culturally happening in society”.
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For the most recent New York Fashion Week, 39 of the 3,605 models used by the 103 designers showing there were curvy. A minuscule number (just 1% of all models), but this is 19 more than the previous season. The newer, emerging independent designers are more inclusive, but Hayward’s report is broken down between on- and off-schedule presentations to showcase which major houses are or are not working with curvy models. Off-schedule shows use a wider range of models, while the most famous are “just rotating four girls that are a palatable curve for them”.
Ozempic’s impact on fashion
The 2010s championed the body positivity movement, when fuller figures and hourglass silhouettes were sought after, tied to the rise of Brazilian Butt Lifts (BBL) and Kardashian curves. BBL surgeries rose by 20% between 2017 and 2021. Fast forward to 2026, The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons found that breast implant removals are up 6% year-on-year.
While “desirable” bodies have changed throughout history, Hayward noted that fashion has “always been centred around being fatphobic and also promoting thinness.” This is also why designers cater to smaller bodies. Hayward doesn’t have an issue with weight-loss jabs like Ozempic, but sees it as a global issue when Eli Lilly sponsors Vogue World and models are taking it to go down in dress sizes.
“I think we all should have seen [the rise of thinness] coming when the Kardashians started to get all of their [implants] dissolved.”
More than 1.6 million Britons have tried a weight-loss medication in the past year, which has impacted retail across fashion, beauty, wellness and food. Timpson has found a 680% increase in customers asking for an extra hole to be added to their belts YOY. Meanwhile, H&M’s size range has dropped – XXL sizes made up 13.1% of the retailer’s inventory in 2025 and this is down 3% in the past year. Sizes XS to large are up 3% in inventory.
H&M told The Guardian: “We have chosen to discontinue sizes 3XL and 4XL, as we have seen lower demand for these sizes.” The publication noted Mango and Anthropologie have also reduced their plus-size ranges. Hayward has noticed the decline of extended sizes in-store across high street retailers. “If a brand stocks up to size 24, they should have a 24 in store.”
It’s always the argument that plus-sizes require more fabric. “Yes, it would take more fabric, but [brands] are not taking into consideration that your smaller ones are taking less fabric. So it would actually balance out.”
Still, some brands are being inclusive, such as ASOS’ ARRANGE collection and Marina Rinaldi. The ASOS range is “absolutely incredible. It’s more like luxe pieces, a lot of sequins and high quality like suits and shapes and silhouettes. But they cater up to a size 30.”
These brands are few and far between, which is why Including the Curve is necessary. For the current season of the report, Hayward is sharing the latest numbers on Instagram; she hopes to find a new home for it – somewhere that aligns.
Glamour’s decision not to commission Hayward’s report is reflective of the times – but now more than ever it is important to fight back and champion plus-size voices. “I think more people who haven’t taken Ozempic, who haven’t changed their bodies, are trying to be louder, but I just don’t know if we’re being listened to.”
By Caroline Edwards, trends editor at CORQ.
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