Fashion Week Gets Real!

Air NZ Fashion Week 2009 will be remembered for its first-ever plus-sized showcase, using women with an average size of 18.
No stupid pony-prancing with Belsen-survivor bodies (e.g.: like this emaciated... thing...on the right: her shadow has more substance than her body!). These bootilicious belles strode out oozing confidence, with big smiles and bigger styles that proved curvaceous creatures can surpass any stick insect on the catwalk.
The show was run by The Carpenter's Daughter label, which designs for curvy gals: the women were sized from 18-24 and aged 14-66. And they'll run another show this weekend using the same well-proportioned women drawn from a public model call, including a 70-year-old.
65% of Kiwi women are sized 16 or bigger, so these models are highly representative (US size zero = NZ size 6). The label's founder said she wanted to "show normal everyday women that they are also part of fashion because they get left out a little bit".
But while things got bigger on the catwalk, the 'goody bags' have shrunk! Maybe it's indicative of the recession that the contents of the bags this year were leaner: some designers dispensed with them altogether!