Sunday Times feature French plus size model Stephanie Zwicky

France has historically been renowned for its fashion conscious and skinny women.

101 Dalmations, which was set in France, portrays the epitome of a French woman in its character Cruella de Ville.

She stands tall and model thin, with a fur coat and expensive shoes.

She holds a filter cigarette in one of her hands, with both hands wearing elbow length gloves.

Although comical and slightly exaggerated, the rest of the world has somewhat held this image of French women – they have always been the models of luxurious fashion and stick thin figures.

Up until this point, the current plus size recognition that has hit the fashion industry seemed to skip over France.

But Stephanie Zwicky, a French plus size model, is proof that even in France the plus size revolution has managed to gain ground.

Also known as Big Beauty, Stephanie Zwicky was chosen by Elle magazine this month to be on its cover, and feature her inside.

The model is a size 22 (UK size), demonstrating that France is ready to change its views and learn to accept plus size women.

Zwicky herself believes that up until now, French women have been expected to be thin, which makes them stop themselves from eating.

This is both unhealthy and a strain on healthcare services, not to mention the fact that it sends a poor message to the younger generation of today.

Apparently the photos of the plus size model provoked quite a shock amongst some readers, which demonstrates the fact that maybe the attitude in France hasn’t changed as much as we would like to believe.

This reminds me of an article published on Plus Size Tall a couple of weeks ago – which talked at Debenhams using plus size models and mannequins in some of its stores.

Albeit that some customers actually didn’t like this new change, and preferred the thin mannequins originally used, the fact of the matter is that the campaign is more to provide evidence that companies are taking the plus size drive in the fashion industry seriously – even if behind the scenes this is not true.

Too many companies have been using token gesture steps to prove to the population that image is changing in fashion – but this is far more difficult than these companies make out.