Tim Gunn: ‘Project Runway’ Mentor Is Outraged At The Fashion Industry, Says Shopping Is ‘Horribly Insulting’ As Most Women Are ‘Excluded’ From Fashion


Tim Gunn, the Project Runway mentor, let loose his fury at the open discrimination of the fashion industry against larger women that represent over half of the potential clothing market. High fashion resists what could only be thought of as reality, as women over size 12 are the majority. Gunn says designers would rather insult the average American woman than clothe them.

The fashion industry routinely ignores and insults 100 million American women, according to Gunn. These should be potential customers, as the average American woman now wears either a size 16 to 18, explains Mr. Gunn in his Washington Post editorial. It is, even now, a $20.4 billion dollar industry called plus-size, obviously a misnomer, since it represents the majority, but it doesn’t fully meet the needs.

Tim Gunn of Project Runway cited a ModCloth survey that showed 90 percent of so-called plus-size women would buy more if they could find more trendy clothing. Tellingly, Tim cites that 80 percent of plus-size girls said they wanted more choices in their size. Plus-size shopping is frustrating, according to 74 percent, while 65 percent of ladies of all sizes felt that plus-size women were excluded or ignored by the industry.

The fashion industry is ignoring a major market who are in the group called plus-size, and Tim Gunn is speaking out about the damage they are doing to many if not most girls and ladies. He calls plus-size clothing an insult.

“Have you shopped retail for size 14-plus clothing? Based on my experience shopping with plus-size women, it’s a horribly insulting and demoralizing experience. Half the items make the body look larger, with features like ruching, box pleats and shoulder pads. Pastels and large-scale prints and crazy pattern-mixing abound, all guaranteed to make you look infantile or like a float in a parade.”

Plus-sized model doesn’t mean overweight, obviously. It means they don’t fit in a size seven. [Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images]

The fashion industry has made a conscious choice to demoralize average sized ladies or, at least, to discourage them from buying fashionable clothing.

Tim Gunn, Project Runway’s guiding hand, explains it doesn’t have to be this way. It is a deliberate choice of the fashion industry to treat what they perceive as large women, who are trying to make plus-size work for them, badly and to ignore them.

“I’ve spoken to many designers and merchandisers about this. The overwhelming response is, ‘I’m not interested in her.’ Why? ‘I don’t want her wearing my clothes.’ Why? ‘She won’t look the way that I want her to look.'”

The fashion industry refuses to serve ladies larger than a size 12. What other industry refuses to serve over half of its potential market? Imagine a restaurant turning away half its customers based on some arbitrary standard. How long would they last? However, the fashion industry ignores the norm.

Julie Henderson, Marquita Pring, Rosaliz Jimenez, Danielle Redman — all plus-size. [Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images]

Tim Gunn says there is much that can be done in clothing design to flatter full-figured or so-called plus-size women. Unfortunately, it is just that designers refuse to do it. It isn’t just a matter of sizes — it is a matter of actually putting thought into a design. However, designers are not interested in helping the majority of females look their best.

“This is a design failure and not a customer issue. There is no reason larger women can’t look just as fabulous as all other women. The key is the harmonious balance of silhouette, proportion, and fit, regardless of size or shape. Designs need to be reconceived, not just sized up; it’s a matter of adjusting proportions. The textile changes, every seam changes.”

The fashion industry is being deliberately discriminatory in its approach, according to Tim Gunn of Project Runway, but not all clothing retailers and designers are oblivious to the need. There are still a few reliable places to buy decent plus-size clothing, one of which is Lane Bryant. They offer a wide range of sizes, and while they aren’t high fashion, they do serve the market well. ModCloth has also stepped up to this vastly neglected market, doubling their plus-size offerings as of last year.

Tim Gunn says it isn’t that difficult to make clothing for heavier, curvier, and stronger built females that help them look their best. Tim says many plus-size designers are not doing it right, and that hurts all females.

“Done right, our clothing can create an optical illusion that helps us look taller and slimmer. Done wrong, and we look worse than if we were naked.”

The fashion industry has made a choice to portray women in a way that doesn’t reflect reality, according to Gunn. Fashion models have always been exceptional girls who are, of course, better looking than average, but the standard has gotten less approachable in recent years. Modeling agencies received harsh criticism for recruiting Ukrainian and Russian teens a few years ago, as featured in the New York Times.

The fashion industry, in an effort to find that surrealistic height, with no curves and the least weight possible, turned to 13-year-old girls from poor nations. Some of these girls were literally hungry in the severe economic climate of the time and place. Still, the practice continues, and the girls are not always well treated.


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Tim Gunn, of Project Runway, is standing up for all ladies when he speaks out for the so-called plus-size gals. Gunn knows size discrimination is very real, and it hurts all females, as the standard of beauty becomes narrow and impossible for more women to achieve.

The fashion industry has chosen the mold that they feel all female human beings should force themselves into, but that mold just won’t fit. This isn’t just about overweight or out of shape ladies. It is about busty girls, amazons with broad shoulders, stronger girls with bigger biceps and stronger backs, and sexy girls with full Kardashian-style hips. Ladies with larger frames are not being served, and plump girls are very shabbily treated by this exclusive industry, according to Tim Gunn. It is simply the natural variation of humanity that designers are turning their backs on.

Tim Gunn, Project Runway’s mentor, is taking up a sword, or at least a pen, against the fashion industry’s discriminatory treatment of plus-size ladies, but he is defending all women.

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]

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