At 6’2 size 12, model Robyn Lawley’s being called the first ‘plus size’ bikini model featured in Sports Illustrated but that label hasn’t been taken lightly by critics who point out the most common size in the U.S. is 14.
“You’re not going to walk into a major market with 36, 37 inch hips, it’s not going to happen, it’s here or it’s here.” Former model and talent manager Victor Schmitt says even though the ‘plus size’ category is fractional, it’s just as competitive. “Beautiful face, great features this is a great looking girl here, they don’t come a dime a dozen. Because you’re a little larger you’re more common, no, there’s nothing common about this business. They are looking for that one in a million,” says Schmitt.
Lawley is one of two ‘plus sized’ women in the magazine this year. Ashley Graham, who wears a sweet 16, appears in a swimwear ad. “She has a great face, her body is nice, it just depends, it’s a personal thing what people like but I can guarantee you that’s not what most girls of the young girls are looking at today.”
The cover model and her thin frame is who Schmitt says girls are idolizing, and that starts with designers. “Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani, they’re the ones picking them, they’re the ones that create it so if they want to change it, it’s going to really start with them. But I don’t think the world is going to move to a place ten years from now where plus size is the main, I don’t think it’s ever going to happen,” says Schmitt.
Out of twenty-five featured models only one, Robyn Lawley, is considered ‘plus size.’ Both women has denounced the label stating that they are simply models, period.