The Debate Over Calvin Klein's 'Plus Size' Model
Myla Dalbesio is a size 10. She’s smaller than the average woman — size 14 — but larger than a sample size. Because she doesn’t fit into a size 0 or 2, she has been called plus size, typically a size 12 and up. But looking at the 27-year-old model, who just debuted as the face of Calvin Klein’s “Perfectly Fit” campaign, she obviously doesn’t fit in with the skinny girls but she certainly isn’t shopping in the plus size section and her representing the category is perplexing to many people.
Lara Stone, Jourdan Dunn, and Ji Hye Park are the other models featured alongside Dalbesio and while she’s larger than them, and comparatively to her peers, she’s just the biggest in the group, but not necessarily big enough to be considered plus size. On Twitter, Jacqueline Ford calls the categorization a “joke,” Katrine Reichert writes that it’s “fat shaming,” Donna L. Bridges says it’s a “visual paradox,” and Susan E. Sponberg asks “where’s the plus?”
Those sounding off on social media though aren’t alone in their bafflement. “It’s kind of confusing because I’m a bigger girl,” Dalbesio says in the latest issue of Elle magazine. “I’m not the biggest girl on the market but I’m definitely bigger than all the girls [Calvin Klein] has ever worked with, so that is really intimidating.”
But just because Dalbesio is “bigger than all the girls [Calvin Klein] has ever worked with,” doesn’t mean that she’s evocative of a population that generally lacks representation within the mainstream fashion industry. While Calvin Klein has chosen to feature Dalbesio alongside the “straight size” models without fanfare, not making a distinction between the models, perhaps that decision was misguided. Instead, the message — not drawing a distinction between sizes in the marketplace — has gotten lost in the misunderstanding.
A Calvin Klein spokeswoman told the New York Times that the “Perfectly Fit line was created to celebrate and cater to the needs of different women, and these images are intended to communicate that our new line is more inclusive and available in several silhouettes in an extensive range of sizes.”
As Elle points out, featuring plus size models on magazine covers and calendars has typically been a stunt to draw attention and Calvin Klein opting to remain silent on the issue, rather than flaunting it, should indicate that progress is being made and normalizing all sizes in advertising. But at a time when Victoria’s Secret comes under fire for unintentionally saying what the “Perfect Body" and Walmart labels its plus size section for "Fat Girls,” being explicitly clear on intentions is more important than ever.
