Plus Size Industry Calls for Accountability in Fashion, Media at Doc Premiere

On Monday, Strutter was working double-duty at the premiere of Straight/Curve: Redefining Body Image, held at Whitby Hotel in New York City reppin' SLiNK Magazine.

Models Emme, Iskra Lawrence, Sabina Karlsson and Nathalia Novaes, Chromat designer Becca McCharen, and Adrienne C. Moore of “Orange is the New Black,” came out in support of the documentary before tonight's debut on EPIX at 8pm EST.

Straight/Curve goes behind-the-scenes of a photo shoot featuring several models ranging in age, size, and color, with interviews of noted fashion industry players (including Tess Holliday, Tim Gunn and Denise Bidot) who are trying to change the modeling landscape via size inclusion.

After the film, there was a panel discussion with Straight/Curve director Jenny McQuaile, designer Prabal Gurung, Lane Bryant SVP Brian Beitler, Moore and Lawrence, moderated Glamour Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive. For many on the panel, the improvement of diversity and inclusivity in fashion and the media is a personal responsibility. “I think life is that journey of being less judgmental of yourself,” says Moore, who likened her body acceptance on-and off-screen to letting her hair go natural. “You know what, I’m gonna rock it, I’m gonna make it.”

Gurung, whose collaboration with Lane Bryant earlier this year was met with accolades, acknowledges there is a lot more work to be done within the industry. "I realized in order for change to happen, the decision-making people—whether it a designer, an editor, an model agent, an advertiser, there have to be people at that table representing one of you. If you are sitting with size 2 decision makers and think change is going to happen, you need to wake up."

Beitler, a father of five daughters, noticed an “acceptable social prejudice...is size. For me, that seems incredibly wrong.” When making his next move to Lane Bryant, he told the panel, “I wanted to be part of a brand that could reshape the women thought about their bodies; the way men think about women’s bodies—this is not a feminist issue. It’s a human issue—and it takes all of committed to do this.”

Straight/Curve: Redefining Body Image airs tonight on EPIX 8pm EST.