Robyn Lawley launches global petition to boycott lingerie giant Victoria’s Secret
PLUS-sized model Robyn Lawley has a big issue with the fashion world’s narrow notions of beauty and is now taking steps so her daughter isn’t affected. She begins with a global petition to boycott a lingerie giant after they failed to cast a curvy model.
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PLUS-sized model Robyn Lawley has a big issue with the fashion world’s narrow notions of beauty — and she’s mobilising on a massive scale so her daughter Ripley doesn’t get weighed down by body image issues.
The 29-year-old is beginning with a global petition calling for women to boycott Victoria’s Secret following the legendary lingerie label’s failure to ever cast even one curvy model in its annual show.
Lawley said her three-year-old daughter Ripley was behind her push.
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“I’ve felt like s … every year looking at that show,” Lawley said.
“I shouldn’t have to feel that way. Ripley is going to have my body shape and my body size, it’s already (genetically) set and she’s three.
“The fact that it affected me so much growing up and we are all compared to what is deemed ‘perfection,’ I don’t want her to have to experience that.”
More than 50 models have been cast to walk in this year’s Victoria’s Secret show on November 8.
But in the prestigious showcase’s 23-year history, not a single curvy or plus-sized model has earned a spot in an annual parade that is watched by more than 500 million people across 158 countries.
The show has made stars of those who have walked in it, and a spot is much sought after by young models
Lawley has constantly broken down the unrealistically thin body image stereotypes that dominate the fashion world.
She became the first plus-size model to be featured in Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition in 2015, where she was simply a model, and not “plus size”.
Lawley said she would be “surprised, shocked and disgusted” if Victoria’s Secret didn’t rethink its decision to exclude curvier models from the parade.
“Where’s the inclusivity? Where’s the diversity? The perfection is intense,” Lawley said.
“I want actual cellulite on a catwalk, I want girls to be relatable.
“We have men likening Victoria’s Secret angels to Olympic athletes as the ideal woman and that just pisses me off.
“Women want to see diversity, I want to see women like me, women are beautiful at different sizes, short or tall. We’re the ones who are buying the products so put your money where your mouth is.”
Lawley, who is fronting watch and jewellery brand Mazzucchelli’s Christmas campaign with Ripley, said it was also “incredibly rare” for curvy models to be hired by jewellery companies. And she said her new role with the brand that has operated in Australia for 115 years was a big step forward.
“You very rarely get to do hair, beauty or jewellery and finally I can see that times are changing, this is how you change the industry,” she said.
Lawley, who shot the Mazzucchelli campaign in Sydney yesterday, said she carefully considered how involved her daughter was going to be in modelling in the future.
“For me, it’s anything mother-daughter,” she said.
“I’m not going to push her out on her own unless she wants to do it when she’s older, that’s her decision.”