The Prevalence of Age Diversity on the Fall/Winter 2022 Runways
Fall/Winter 2022 was the most diverse season yet, but we still have a long way to go.
It seems as though the fashion industry is in a constant state of promises: promises of more diversity and inclusion; promises to pivot away from the antiquated standard of rail-thin sample sizes; promises to cease perpetuating the idea that youth is the only way to sell clothes. With another fashion month now in our rearview, it’s clear that, although these issues are very far from being behind us, there is movement in the right direction—specifically within age and body diversity. Despite the Fall/Winter 2022 shows being leagues ahead of many previous seasons, there is still a long way to go.
Body diversity in fashion seems to follow a pattern of pushing and pulling. Fall/Winter 2020 was incredibly lacking in regards to size diversity, whereas the following season, Spring/Summer 2021, had a historic amount of curve representation, which then again fell flat by Fall/Winter 2021. These oscillations between the use of models outside the standard sample size make it difficult to understand or recognize whether or not size diversity is being used as a fly-by-night trend that will one day be over or an actual, serious understanding that these shifts need to happen in order for fashion to accurately reflect the world. European houses are especially finicky when it comes to body diversity. The image of brands like Saint Laurent, Celine, and Prada is so tethered to the use of tall, lithe models that having the look almost feels like a barrier to entry in wearing their clothing.
It’s easy to think of body diversity as someone like Ashley Graham, a model who deviates from the norm of high fashion in terms of size but checks every other box in terms of whiteness, able-bodiedness, and height. When only one look out of around 50 is worn by a plus-size model, it usually points to a quick grab of diversity for optics, rather than an actual desire to pivot away from the size zero sample. (Not to mention size diversity among male models, which is rarely seen.)
Plus-size clothing is often thought of as sizes 12 and up, however, the average body size of an American woman is between a 16 and 18, sizes that often don’t even exist in luxury brands. It’s not an issue of a lack of models above a size 12, nor a lack of willingness on the part of casting directors, agents, or editors. It lies within the use of a “standard” sample size that European designers are often particularly married to. Europe has always fallen behind New York in terms of diversity and inclusion, but their lack of willingness for body diversity is very quickly catching up with them. This season, however, it appeared that the European markets were taking strides to catch up with their American counterparts; age diversity especially appeared to be on the upswing for the Fall/Winter 2022 season.
Saint Laurent, Max Mara, Chloé, and Prada were all peppered with models across the age-board, as was Balenciaga, as Creative Director Demna Gvasalia has become known to use models of all ages. Caroline Trentini (34) and Jessica Stam (35) made their return to fashion week for Max Mara, and although these models are far from "old," they are nonetheless outside of the typical age range of runway models.
Prada filled its Fall/Winter 2022 show with models that made their start at the house in decades past, an homage to the profession of modeling. Arizona Muse, Kinga Rajzek, Amanda Murphy, Erin O’Connor, Querelle Jansen, Suvi Riggs, Hannelore Knuts, Emily Sandberg Gold, Marina Perez, and Elise Crombez were all present on the runway.
The house, however, that had the most impressive amount of age diversity was Valentino. While fashion houses sometimes feature models that are older than the norm, it is often ‘90s icons à la Naomi Campbell or Kate Moss, creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli used models of all ages. Piccioli also championed body diversity in his Spring/Summer 2022 Haute Couture collection for the brand, using an array of body sizes and ages. Couture, often the least diverse in regards to sizing due to the use of a "house model" to whom every look in the collection is fit, was shifted by Piccioli, a hopeful signal to the opening of doors for other European designers to follow.
Although great strides have been made in terms of body diversity and age diversity on the runways, the two are often treated as mutually exclusive—at least in the case of Valentino (Piccioli’s Fall/Winter 2022 show only had one plus-sized model). Such distinctions arise concern: Do these inclusions come from a place of desiring to stay on-trend, or care for actual change within the industry? The future of the industry lies in the hands of the younger generations of designers, photographers, editors, stylists, and more who are working now to create the change that is necessary to the fashion industry. As we move forward into the future, collection after collection will allow us to watch the evolution of fashion in real-time.
