At London’s Victoria and Albert Museum on July 24, designer Sinéad O’Dwyer presented her Fashion In Motion show, featuring models and performers of various body shapes and sizes. The event, which included a live performance by the band Jeanie & The White Boys, marked a continuation of O’Dwyer’s ongoing challenge to the fashion industry’s preference for thin body types. Since debuting at London Fashion Week in 2021, she has made a point of using a size 18 sample instead of the typical size 4-8 samples used by most brands, emphasizing inclusivity and body diversity. The show was open to the public for a modest ticket price of £5, reflecting O’Dwyer’s ethos that luxury fashion should be more accessible.

O’Dwyer has garnered recognition for her work, including awards and endorsement from celebrities such as Cardi B and Bjork. However, despite a brief period of broader acceptance toward body diversity in the fashion world—highlighted by moments like Paloma Elsesser becoming the first plus-size model of the year at the British Fashion Awards in 2023—recent reports suggest progress has largely stalled. The Size Inclusivity Report by Vogue Business indicates that for the autumn/winter 2026 season, nearly 98% of models in London Fashion Week remain within a UK size 4-8 range.

The fashion industry’s focus on thinness is not new, having shifted over the last century through varying ideals, from the slender flapper look of the 1920s to the athletic figures popularized in the 1980s. Several industry insiders attribute the recent retreat from diversity to wider societal and cultural trends. Stylist Jeanie Annan-Lewin linked the phenomenon to political and cultural shifts since 2016, noting a reduction in visible minorities across multiple sectors, including fashion. Casting director Emma Matell, who has worked with O’Dwyer, also highlighted a pervasive desire for women to “take up less space,” both physically and metaphorically, within the industry.

The rising popularity of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs has been cited as an additional factor reinforcing the emphasis on thinness. Lucy Maguire, features director at Vogue Business, explained that the widespread use of such medications has contributed to a societal shrinking in body size, reviving an underlying reverence for thinness in fashion culture.

Several voices within the industry stress the commercial importance of embracing body diversity. A survey referenced by Maguire found that a significant proportion of mid-size and plus-size consumers feel alienated by the fashion industry due to their size, despite having considerable spending power. Annan-Lewin described the reluctance to serve these consumers in luxury fashion as a missed opportunity, challenging the assumption that plus-size individuals are not interested in higher-end products.

The difficulty and financial cost of altering established manufacturing processes to accommodate larger sizes remains a notable barrier to change. Nevertheless, O’Dwyer believes that simply showcasing a range of body types on prominent luxury runways carries transformative potential. “Luxury is very deeply embedded in everything, even if you don’t know anything about luxury,” she said, reflecting on her own experience growing up.

The inclusive approach at London Fashion Week stands in contrast to most other global fashion weeks, where diversity remains limited. Alongside O’Dwyer, designers like Mark Fast and Chopova Lowena are expected to continue featuring a variety of body types in their upcoming shows.

Some industry figures emphasize that more must be done beyond conversation to tackle entrenched biases, including addressing fatphobia within fashion. Annan-Lewin expressed frustration at the lack of concrete progress, calling for financial support and structural changes to support size diversity efforts. The consensus among those involved is that without systemic change, meaningful progress toward inclusivity in fashion will remain slow.