The Stream

#NYFW: Is fashion inclusive enough?

We speak to the models and designers who use social media to subvert the mainstream

New York Fashion Week is under way, and while many are watching the designers and models on the runway for this year’s biggest trends, chances are you’re looking to social media to actually find fashion and models who represent your body type, your way of dressing and your thoughts on fashion.

With about 800 million users, Instagram has become a fashion a hub for people who dress modestly, plus size models, or designers who sell gender nonconforming clothes. Trey Campbell is a male plus size model who was contacted by a major retailer to represent their looks after he tagged them on social media. He told us, “But I represent the real guy who is looking for clothes that fit well and who cares about trends…we care about feeling and looking good in our clothes.”

Modest clothing has had a very successful few years, especially marketing to the Muslim demographic. Nike developed a hijab for professional sportspeople and the US department store Macy’s announced it would begin carrying modest clothing and hijabs in its stores. But modest fashion designers have already been highly successful on social media, speaking directly to their consumers for years.

The runways of Milan, Paris and New York are coming off the back of a successful year of inclusivity and great strides are being made. FashionSpot found 2017 to be the most racially diverse year in fashion. After reviewing more than 750 international fashion publications they found that 32.5 percent featured people of colour. Plus sized models like Ashley Graham and Candice Huffine graced eight magazine covers, but gender non-binary fashion was still lacking. 

In this episode of the Stream we’ll speak to designers and models about who they design for and why their clothing is vision is successful, even if it’s not in mainstream fashion. 

On this episode of The Stream, we speak with:

Trey Campbell 
Songwriter
instagram.com/treycampbellmusic

Chaya Chanin
Founder, The Frock NYC
thefrocknyc.com

Simi Polonsky
Founder, The Frock NYC
thefrocknyc.com

Charli Russon @CurvyGirlThin
Fashion Blogger
curvygirlthin.com

Fahima Saidi
Fashion Director, Fllumaé
instagram.com/fllumae

Read more:
Is New York fashion week dead? – Al Jazeera 
Bringing a personal touch to plus size fashion – New York Times 

What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.