The Rise of the Plus-Size Model

At 5 feet 9 and about 165 pounds, Crystal Renn doesn’t look plus-size in person—but she is the industry’s most successful plus-size model, and potentially the face of a new movement in fashion. “You’re not big,” said a surprised creative director when he met her recently for her appearance in V magazine’s “size issue”—but photographers often purposefully emphasize her size.

“Because I am a plus-size model, they like to make an example,” Renn tells the New York Times. “They see a roll, and they say, ‘Ooh, a roll!’ And they focus on it.” CNN also takes a look at the recent rise of plus-size models, wondering if the change is permanent. “The work is picking up—I do agree that 2010 is going to be the ‘year of plus,’” says one size 12 model. But another contends that there still “aren't that many jobs. V is just one magazine.”
(More Crystal Renn stories.)