Thinness is Back on catwalks

After a short interlude of pushing "body inclusivity" and plus-sized models to the fore, the fashion industry has returned to promoting thinness as a beauty ideal.

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Data published from Vogue Business, based on catwalk shows in the most recent Spring/Summer 2026 Fashion Weeks, corroborated what models with regular or larger body sizes have been reporting: their work is drying up.

Of the 9,038 looks analyzed in New York, London, Milan and Paris, 97.1 percent featured models judged to be very small (US 0-4, UK 4-8 or 32-36 in France), according to data from Vogue Business in its size inclusivity report.

Regular-sized models represented only 2.0 percent of the body types seen, compared to just 0.9 percent for "plus-size" models (US 14+, UK 18+, France 44+), the report showed. "There are fewer and fewer plus-size models on the runways," says Aude Perceval, a booker at Plus Agency, a pioneer in plus-size modeling in France. The trend was particularly pronounced in Paris, she added. This is despite many designers adopting looks that naturally create curvy silhouettes, such as corsets.