CONTOURS DE FORCE

As a wave of designers embrace a spectrum of shapes and sizes, Maya Singer speaks to three models about the powerful, if complicated, relationship between fashion and physique

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THE BODY IS BACK. That’s the news from the spring 2022 runways—all that skin hidden away by lockdown tracksuits has been re-exposed, with legs stretching out beneath minis at Dior, navels winking above low-slung waistbands at Miu Miu and miles of midriff revealed by bras, crop tops and peekaboo cut-outs spotted everywhere from Loewe to Michael Kors. Transparency is a theme; so too fabrics that cling to every curve, and tailored ensembles enunciating a robust hourglass silhouette. Designed at a moment when it seemed society might be putting COVID-19 in the rear-view mirror, these collections feel optimistic. Go out and play, they say. Show yourself.