A contractor for the fashion industry has taken to ether claiming that “plus-sized models are going extinct.”
Lynley Eiler’s assertions reflect a significant drop in featured curve models at the New York and London Fashion Weeks over the last three years.
According to model and activist Felicity Haywood, the trend was triggered by showbiz’s favorite weightloss pharmaceutical, Ozempic, in 2023.
Highlights
- Plus-sized model bookings dropped from 70 to just 23 in three years at major fashion weeks.
- Industry insiders cite Ozempic’s popularity as fueling a return to ultra-thin beauty ideals.
- Body positivity advocates warn of shrinking diversity on international runways.
Lynley Eiler says that even the most illustrious of plus-sized models are struggling to find work
Image credits: Instagram/Lynley Eilers
Eiler, a professional plus-sized model for the last five years, claimed that curvaceous members of the fashion community are a small clique.
“Especially those of us who are working consistently… It’s a small scene and you know the girls that are working the most.”
Of late the demographic has shrunk due to a dwindling demand for full-figured forms.
Image credits: Instagram/Lynley Eilers
Image credits: Instagram/Lynley Eilers
“You know it’s bad when those girls are messaging you saying ‘me too’,” Eiler declared.
She went on to say that even the women who pioneered the plus-sized scene and helped her accept her body are feeling the pinch.
Model/activist Felicity Haywood echoed Eiler with claims she was been rejected to the point that she was offended
Image credits: Instagram/Lynley Eilers
“‘We would love for you to attend our fashion month show.
Me: ‘Are you providing dressing options?’
Nothing in your size, sadly, but we do have these really fun earrings!’”
“In 2019, this was a common conversation I had with many London Fashion Week shows. It became rather tedious and honestly quite offensive,” Hayward elaborated.
Haywood claims she was made to feel grateful at fashion shows
Image credits: Instagram/Lynley Eilers
“For many years, as a plus-size woman, I’d been made to feel grateful to even be invited to these fashion month shows because, quite frankly, I didn’t have the acceptable ‘fashion-worthy body’ that's so prevalent in the fashion industry.”
Hayward says she felt this way even though she already had close to a “decade’s worth of high-end fashion editorials, billboards, beauty campaigns and articles” to her name.
“My size was definitely still an issue. Plus-size models were definitely still an issue.”
Image credits: Instagram/Lynley Eilers
With this view, she decided to document the number of full-figured women on the ramp.
The situation improved briefly in 2022, but the advent of Ozempic reversed the progress
Haywood found that in 2022, the spotlight was drawn to the ‘h***in chic’ and ‘skinny is back’ references swirling around ultra-thin models, which prompted an industry-wide change.
As a result, 70 plus-sized models appeared on ramps later that year, 49 of whom featured at the New York Fashion Week.
Image credits: Instagram/Lynley Eilers
February 2023 saw a steep dive in representations to 31, which soared again to 70 by September of the same year. By February the next year the number ebbed slightly, then dived to 46 in September 2024.
In 2025, the number of plus-sized representations seen on ramps dipped even more.
Hayworth observed: “With over 91 designers showing this season and an average of 40 looks per show, there were around 3640 looks on the runways. [Twenty-three] of them were considered curve or plus.”
Image credits: Instagram/Lynley Eilers
According to Hayward, one key culprit is Ozempic.
She writes: “The rise of the Ozempic trend in the US is still hanging around, three years after its first popularity—and it was quite apparent the impact of this trend.”
The public is divided on the topic
Eiler appears to have stirred a hornet’s nest with many contributors speaking their minds.
“Plus-size brands are telling influencers that ‘body positivity is dated’ and they’re going in a new direction,” claimed one commenter.
Image credits: Instagram/Lynley Eilers
“Yep, it’s dry out here,” wrote a model in agreement, then hinted at the weight-loss medication that comes up every time an A-lister loses weight: “the GLP-1 craze really put a hindrance on plus modeling.”
“Ugh yes, Ozempic being used recreationally has had so many negative impacts,” someone else agreed.
The public believes the fashion scene is regressing
