Does Size Matter?

This weekend my classmates Maria, Jeera, Whitney, Shirin and I (Fränzi) visited this year´s Plus Size Fashion Week, which of course was happening in Shoreditch, one of the trendiest areas in London.

The UK Plus Size Fashion Week is passionate about campaigning for greater awareness, choice and understanding of the plus-size community. The evening was full of panel discussions with big questions like „Does Size Matter“ as well as a charity fashion show with brands like M&S, Curvissa, Daniela Durgova, Rachel Peru and many more.

There was also a Proud Gallery (a wall of portraits and quotes of what people are proud of), a charity auction and a special guest, Tai from The Voice.

#BEPROUDBEYOU

UKPSFW #beproudbeyou has teamed up with the BeReal campaign. If you’ve never heard about this awesome campaign, then listen up!
The BeReal Campaign is determined to change attitudes to body image, helping us put health above appearance and become confident in our bodies. It is a national movement made up of individuals, schools, businesses, charities and public bodies.

This was my classmates and my first ever big Fashion Show and it was really exciting for us! We were sitting in the front row with the the best view and could watch at all these creative people on the catwalk as well as all around the venue. It was such a great opportunity to step into the fashion world!

My favourite part of this evening was definitely the fashion show, although the Proud Gallery with all these inspiring stories and quotes was also quite a memorable experience. Whitney (pictured below) has immortalised herself on the gallery wall with this quote: “I`m proud to see the world finally catching on to the unique different bodies we live in.”

THE STYLIST IN ME REJOICED

It was an honour to attend UKPSFW and pleasure to see plus sized women being celebrated, empowered and embraced. From a stylist point of view, seeing different designers making edgy, beautiful clothes for plus sized women and all body shapes is a breath of fresh air. The event was truly showing the world that all bodies are beautiful. I loved the lingerie collection because I could see the models for who they really were and it was raw beauty.

THE PANEL

Maria´s statement was very inspiring: We all differ from each other. We are all beautiful and so particular in our own way. The fact is, that nobody can say for sure what is beautiful and what is not, beauty depends on the individual perception. We have to learn to love ourselves in every single moment.

Jeera was inspired by the „Does Size Matter“ session, where each of the panels shared a common empowering message of embracing what you have, and how your value is measured from within than without.

So what makes you proud?

This article was created by our Foundation Styling Course students Franziska Rieder, Jeera Abdullah, Maria Reiswich, Whitney Kondolo and Shirin Talwar.
Follow their creative journey at @franrstylist @jeeradoesfashion @maria_reiswich, @whitneytakesonstyling @shirintalwar14

Also, make sure to follow @ukpsfw for upcoming fashion shows, as well as @slingshotldn who helped organising this amazing event.