The Sunday News
Lance Chigodo, Sunday Leisure Reporter
A LOCAL model management agency — Iconic Model Management Zimbabwe has called on Zimbabwean plus-size women to take up modelling as a career, as plus-size modelling is fast growing popular across the globe.
IMMZ director Nilton Makazhu told Sunday Leisure that the world had started appreciating plus-size models, hence the call for curvy women to take it up as a career.
“Our goal is to bring and showcase the value of plus-size women-cum models in Zimbabwe. Africa is endowed with curvy women and we should make efforts to promote our culture and celebrate our women,” he said.
Makazhu also said being plus-size in a world that encourages a standardised idea of beauty meant that people were acknowledging that they were imperfect.
“If they accept that they are different then it means that they are classified as other and somewhat out of the norm, which is slim. It means acknowledging the constant struggle they are faced with each day because of their supposed cellulite ridden thighs, the ‘extra’ skin they have around their stomachs, their flabby arms and chubby cheeks.
“It’s about realising there’s a need for change, and choosing to love their bodies unconditionally. Society should accept that there too are curvy women who also have feelings and yearn to be appreciated by society. Curvy women shouldn’t have any illusions about their bodies. Yes they are not perfect but those are the only bodies they have.
They deserve and should love themselves,” he said.
He added: “Our mission is to knock down barriers and stereotypes of the perception of curvy women, paving the way for true representations of beauty for full-figured women by helping them feel confident and at peace with themselves while embracing their God-given bodies,” he said.
A Zimbabwean plus-size model based in South Africa, Stacey Johnson, who recently took part in an exclusive photo shoot to promote curvy women in Africa, said the concept behind promoting plus-size women in Zimbabwe and Africa was good.
“I understand not everyone understands what this is about. To me it is such a simple concept. It’s all about loving your body regardless of your size and chasing your dreams. The problem is that the world has been culturally colonised by European concepts that people tend to appreciate what has been ‘forced down their throats’ instead of their own,” she said.
“Being plus-size means being a confident woman who refuses to let anybody’s ideas or perceptions of beauty alter my self-worth. I am seeing my body through my gaze for a change. Being fearless — waiting for no man’s approval and apologise to no woman for the way I look.”
The photo shoot, which was organised by a South African fashion agency — Revelation Fashion attracted curvy women from across Africa.
Revelation Fashion is a South African clothing brand specialising in irresistible yet affordable plus-size clothing for the confident, fearless woman.
There have been shows held in Zimbabwe such as Miss Curvy that have failed to break the stereotype, with many people ridiculing the pageant as one that seeks to poke fun at curvy women.
Wikipedia describes the term plus-size model as an expression applied to an individual of larger stature (sometimes overweight or obese) who is engaged primarily in modelling plus-size clothing.
Plus-size models also engage in work that is not strictly related to selling large-size clothing such as photography and advertising photography for cosmetics, household, pharmaceutical products, sunglasses, footwear and watches.
Therefore plus-size models do not exclusively wear garments marketed as plus-size clothing. This is especially true when participating in fashion editorials for mainstream fashion magazines.
