by Benjamin Kanarek

Fashion silhouettes and the models used in most spreads in all of the major Fashion Magazines are generally
quite sleek. Woman who read these magazines aspire to the precedents set
by these Trend Makers. It is more often than not very frustrating for
the readership to have to live up to the standards being set by those
influential glossies.

Pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies make a fortune on their magic formula’s, which
they regularly advertise in the Beauty or Fitness sections of ELLE, VOGUE, Harper’s BAZAAR, Marie
Claire, etc… The income generated by catering to weight lose and the
associated regimes to do so are astronomical. Considering that
purchasing one advertising page in one of the above giants cost between
$25-35k, you can now begin to calculate the importance of this sector.
The Dove campaign is a case in point. But, the problem
up to now has been, although weight lose regimes are advertised, the
magazines do not really cater to the present physical state of a large
sector of the potential readership population. In fact, they more often
than not alienate those potential adopters of the Mega-Magazines, by not
directly communicating with them. They treat Plus Sized woman as a
malady and not a normal fact of life, thus alienating them even more so.

Hungry by Crystal Renn

However, there has been some stirring amongst the general female populace and some magazines are
starting to react. Most recently with French Marie Claire’s’ Special Un-retouched April 2010
Issue and in the March 26th, 2010 French ELLE
(a weekly), they grace the cover with XXL Model Tara Lynn at FORD
Agency. To say it was a cultural shock, would be an understatement. We
have become so accustomed to size “0? models featured on most covers
that the shock and awe stopping power of this one became a huge seller,
outselling their average weekly sales by a Large Margin… No Pun
Intended.

Why did the ELLE cover create such a stir? Well first off, being that the model was not a recognizable
celebrity, people had to look more closely at what many would ask, “who
is this larger than what I have been accustomed to classic model they
generally show, doing on this cover?” Secondly, breaking with
convention is a sure way of getting people to stand up and take notice.
Thirdly, it is a paradigm shifting and powerful statement being made
by one of the Big 4 most influential magazine conglomerates in the
world.

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