The body positive

Renu Sud Sinha, Seema Sachdeva and Sarika Sharma

In 2016, when ramps the world over had begun warming up to the idea of body diversity, India hosted its first plus-size show at a premier fashion week. A year later, several designers had roped in models of diverse shapes for fashion shows. It is 2022, and though plus-size models and influencers are noticeable, it’s been a journey fraught with challenges — personal and professional.

Sizing it up

• Plus-size range begins at XXL (bust 42”), goes up to 6XL (48”) on most e-commerce sites.
• Amydus offers sizes till 9XL (54”).
• Waist size begins at 36”, goes up to to 44” for women, 38” to 46” for men.
• For men, shirts/kurtas/T-shirts up to 5XL (7-10XL on some sites).
• On Amazon, women jeans are available up to 52”.

So, while Amazon India’s latest ‘Har Pal Fashionable’ campaign — ‘Tu khul, tu khil, har pal tu khud se mil’ (Bud, blossom and grow, meet yourself, discover) — resonates for its refreshing expression of inclusivity, of accepting yourself as you are, at the end of the day it’s a story of resilience.

The definition of the perfect body has changed over the years. But who created these perceptions? Fashion glossaries and beauty product companies? Marketing gurus selling a dream? I think it is a mix of people. —Nida Mahmood, Designer

There’s no fashion week or major design campaign today that doesn’t include a plus-size model in their pool. Though opportunities for them may be lesser at present, we will soon see a growth in demand for different sizing. —Lakshmi Rana, Supermodel

Plus-size model Harshita Vaishnav recalls how while she was growing up, shopping trips would be disheartening. “Try looking for a stylish outfit, and the only options would be kurtas, kaftans or loose tees. We would often end up at a tailor to get clothes stitched,” she says.

Over the last decade, however, the plus-size community has come out in the open, asserting its fashion requirements, generating awareness and acceptance of different body types, she adds.

From thin to a curvy, plus-size woman, Barkha Nangia has been on both sides of the scale. After her marriage in 2010, when medical issues like PCOS and thyroid led to a substantial weight gain and numerous hospital rounds, she decided “not to live like that anymore”. “I had always dreamt of being a heroine and I thought there must be others like me.” That’s how Glamour Gurgaon was born, a company that organises fashion events and beauty pageants.

“All shapes, sizes, body types are beautiful. I wanted to transfer this confidence to the contestants,” she says. She started small with local pageants, then Ms Punjab and eventually, Mrs India Pride of Nation. “In 2016, during the auditions across various cities, particularly in Punjab, we came across many healthy women. Though we couldn’t accommodate them due to the pageant’s parameters, I wanted to create something specifically for them.” A year later, she started Ms India Curvy. “The first season saw 700 women at the auditions, the next season 1,700.”

For Bindiya Sharma, winner of Ms India Curvy-2020, it was a life-changing experience. “Lots of opportunities, modelling assignments, shoots, and that too when I have not even been part of the fashion industry.” A Vastu consultant and astrologer, Sharma had decided to participate in the pageant on a lark. What’s driving this change, she says, is that people “want to see real bodies now”.

Image guru Dilip Cherian says there are two points to be noted. “Firstly, body shaming is now considered inappropriate. While the ideal body has been a norm in the fashion industry, at the global stage, there has been a shift towards the normal body type. The over-idealised body image, it is being realised, tends to create dissonance in a larger audience and the industry is now trying to alter that. Secondly, with rising obesity levels in India, sizes are generally on their way up.”

The two years of pandemic, Cherian says, have given companies the time to rethink their market strategies. “More and more companies will follow this trend in the long term. Making it the new normal, however, will still take a little while, but I’m optimistic because the young today are particularly non-hesitant in accepting their bodies.”

Along with this gradual change and acceptance in society, the brands, too, have realised the huge potential of the market. The plus-size apparel forms 12 per cent of the total market, say industry experts.

For Shabbar Madhiya, a plus-size model from Mumbai, his body type has always been an issue.

“But lately, things have changed. Body positivity and inclusivity being the new market mantra, most brands are now focusing on this segment that’s going to be the next boom,” says the “Myntra-approved” model. From an initial response of “Have you looked at yourself?” to modelling for 17 brands now, Madhiya surely represents this change.

Seeing the lack of variety in stylish clothes, jewellery designer Akassh K Aggarwal started designing clothes for himself a decade back.

“The scenario hasn’t changed much. Brands which do offer 3, 4 or 5XL sizes price them quite high, a constant reminder that large body types need extra material. The offerings seem more of a tokenism, even a fear of being called out than a genuine change or acceptance,” says Aggarwal.

Lifestyle and fashion blogger Shiwangi Peswani concurs that finding the right fit remains a challenge when it comes to lingerie. “Especially bras. Some women have more belly fat, some measure more on the under bust and some might be endowed with a heavy bust. One size doesn’t fit all. And that’s a huge predicament. Also, good plus-size clothing comes with a hefty price tag,” says Peswani, who took a lot of time to come to terms with her full figure. The credit, she adds, goes to her Facebook followers and her younger son, now in college. “He told me to accept myself as I am and not think about losing weight unless I am facing health issues, not to fit into a garment,” she says.

The growing demand in a country known for its large body types and a projected annual market growth rate of 25 per cent are the key drivers behind the sudden ‘interest’ in plus-size market. For designer Narendra Kumar Ahmed, it was a conscious decision “to break my own mental barriers. It makes commercial sense too as this segment constitutes a large percentage”. He attributes this mind-shift to the millennials. “Looking across at their peers in the digital world, they are aware and vocal about this emerging sense of inclusivity.” However, some challenges still remain — from getting your own plus-size models for fashion shows as the pool models remain stuck in old parameters, to non-availability of mannequins to display large sizes, adds the designer.

Designer Nida Mahmood, who along with Milind Soman brought plus-size yoga practitioner Dolly Singh on the ramp to launch their line Deivee, says the definition of a perfect body has also changed. “At one point, voluptuous was considered perfect, then came the skinny size or size zero, and then came the conversation of a healthy body is equal to a beautiful body.”

Fashion stylist Prasad Bidapa says it is heartening to see how, overcoming their shyness and insecurity, plus-size people are coming forward to audition for films, fashion shows, TV serials and theatre. “Many designers are working with serious intent to create inclusive sizes. Tarun Tahiliani, Abraham & Thakore and many others will introduce 2XL in their collections,” he says.

And inclusiveness will expand its horizon eventually, feels Bidapa. “I have a model, Rajalakshmi, who is in a wheelchair due to an accident, but she has overcome this and become a successful model,” he says.

Veteran actor Seema Pahwa, whose film ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’ tried to break the mould by casting an overweight girl in the lead, says somehow it has been drilled into our minds that being fat is a bane. “It is important to break this stereotype. Being thin might actually be unhealthy. I have seen much younger women on sets exhausted early in the morning for they have not had proper food. Their faces don’t glow. However, in our family, we just don’t eat daal without ghee.”

Her husband, actor Manoj Pahwa, has shared how he was body-shamed when he decided to become an actor. Their daughter-in-law Sanah Kapur has been trolled for being fat. “How does size matter?” asks Pahwa. “Does it make you a better person? No.” She welcomes ads celebrating body diversity. “More than films, it is ads that force us to buy things.”

Locally too, increased awareness has meant more footfall. From a section in Pantaloons, aLL went on to open a store at VR Punjab Mall, Mohali. Sandeep Kumar, store manager, says the store opened eight years back but it is only recently that customers have become comfortable walking in.

Mayur Varma, executive creative director, 82.5 Communications India, which is owned by Ogilvy, says advertising is reflective of the ever-evolving societies we live in. “Progressive brands closely listen to the chatter amongst people who are constantly trying to push boundaries. These brands then try to befriend them. How? By slipping into their shoes. Talking their lingo, feeling and behaving like them. That’s how one starts to see the kind of characters one does in a certain brand’s ads.”

With 32.5K Insta followers, Neelakshi Singh is part of this change. An associate professor at Pearl Fashion Academy, she has literally been a Jill of most plus-size fashion aspects. “After bullying-induced bulimia in school, the only escape was dressing up.” Her passion for styling resulted in a Masters in Design from NIFT and a job with a plus-size fashion brand. “My brief was to create clothes for upper middle class, middle-aged housewives. ‘Bass kapde hone chahiye, they told me; they didn’t need design.” During her early modelling days, she would carry her own clothes for photoshoots as the sizes provided would not fit, says Singh, who shot for Dove in 2019. “That shoot in London was an eye-opener. We were treated as ‘normal models’, with amazing options for outfits.” However, some things don’t change. “I shoot for major brands, but my mother still tells me, ‘Beta woh sab toh theek hai, ab weight lose karo.’” And the journey continues…