Excessive thinness is again an issue in the fashion world

At the latest fashion shows, nostalgia was a major topic. At Cavalli, the muses of the brand from two decades ago returned to the runway, Miu Miu celebrated the years of innocence, while Anthony Vaccarello and Alessandro Michele revived past aesthetics for Saint Laurent and for Valentino. The desire to go back in time was so strong that even the casting, despite featuring new faces, revisited old trends by almost entirely abandoning inclusivity. According to the new Size Inclusivity Report from Vogue Business, in Milan, 98% of the models wore size 0 (equivalent to a 36 in Europe), while only 0.3% were considered plus size. The report even shows that the average sizes were “distorted” since, although it was the SS25 womenswear collection, many were menswear looks worn by men. It’s not surprising that the brands presenting the most inclusive sizes on the runway were primarily independent or emerging labels, such as Sunnei and Marco Rambaldi in Milan, Karoline Vitto, Chopova Lowena, and Di Petsa in London, or Ester Manas, Rick Owens, and Cecilie Bahnsen in Paris. Apart from exceptional cases like Marni, Ferragamo, Hermès, Miu Miu, and Chanel (which still rank at the bottom of the top 10), luxury houses not only seem to have turned their backs on the “inclusivity trend” but have even opted for excessive thinness. In this nostalgia-driven mania, which has turned even the most visionary designers into chronic melancholics, the waistline has also lost ground, trapped in an old painting that fashion thought it had left behind in the attic. According to the report, however, it was only a matter of time before the inclusivity boom of recent years faced backlash.

Besides the usual socio-cultural explanation (since the World Wars, mannequins and models tend to shrink during times of crisis), multiple factors are driving the return of excessive thinness this time. One of these is undoubtedly the rise of weight-loss drugs. In the US, The Independent and Wall Street Journal have reported retailers' joy upon learning that many of the 15.5 million people who tried Ozempic and Wegovy now need smaller clothes, to the detriment of plus-size clothing retailers. These drugs are being used by everyone, even by models once celebrated for their curves—«A lot of models that used to be plus-size are now mid-size,» said a London casting director to The Guardian. Moreover, the rise of nepo babies in modeling has introduced a new type of diversity, with models like Iris Law, Lila Moss, and Sunday Rose (Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s daughter, who made her debut at Fashion Week this September by opening the Miu Miu show) embodying a look that feels both familiar and different. In such a varied landscape, where plus-size models have slimmed down, and the most beloved faces are children of celebrities, brands feel comfortable abandoning trends that were uncomfortable for an industry resistant to change. While it’s fair for a brand to decide how to represent its "ideal customer," relying on excessively thin models could lead to another future reversal of trends, perpetuating a cycle of glorifying one body type or another—one that inevitably invites criticism and prejudice unrelated to the clothes themselves. Fashion must find the right balance: as any good dietitian would say, the best diet is not extreme but sustainable.