French Fashion Blogger "Clarifies" Her Stance Against Plus-Size Models

Yesterday, Garance Doré, the fashion illustrator and blogger, was quoted as saying, “It’s not such a good thing to show plus-size, because it’s not really physically healthy and not always flattering to fashion.” Today, she says the opposite!

The Huffington Post writer Hilary Moss, who ran a glowing interview with Doré earlier this month, hurried to contact the prominent blogger after her critical comments about the alleged unhealthy ideal plus-size models represent, and the “gimmicky” use of plus-size models at shows like London designer Mark Fast’s, were published by Sky News. The result is…not entirely enlightening, as clarifications go:

I never said that plus-size models are unhealthy. That would be totally stupid of me. To me, they represent the diversity of women’s bodies, and what I said is that I will be happy to see them on a runway on a regular basis, just mixed [in with regular models] and not [walking] all together at the same time.

But I also think that if things like V Mag or the Mark Fast show contribute to making people more tolerant and the fashion industry more open to that, then it’s just great and a good sign for the future.

I, myself, am not a model at all, and I have always said that I like my curves.”

Most public figures, when seeking to distance themselves from their own insensitive or boneheaded comments, at least remember to dispute the veracity of the quotes in question when issuing their repositioning statements. (cf. Anne Slowey!) Doré isn’t doing that. She does not appear to be disputing the accuracy of Sky News’ reporting, even as she is denying outright that she said what they say she did. Moss seems to take Doré at her word, characterizing the controversy as only “inadvertently caused” by Doré and saying that the blogger has now “set the record straight.” (Wouldn’t be the first writer to lose her sense of objectivity around a favored source.) I am constitutionally less inclined to charity, and also genuinely confused by what Doré is saying, or trying to say. Is yesterday’s quote the one that truly represents her feelings on the issue, or is today’s? Does she think plus-size models are “not physically healthy,” or does she agree that that is a “totally stupid” thing to say?