Will China embrace plus-size fashion? Only if women stop wanting ‘to look good in a size 2, not a size 20’
- International fashion influencers hope to give plus-sized women a voice in China, where the pressure to be slim is relentless
- ‘Losing weight is not a fashion tip,’ says US-based Scarlett Hao, while co-founder of a US plus-size brand says positive trends there will reach Asia one day
Think of body image in China and most will recall a viral phenomenon two years ago in which young Chinese women compared their tiny waists to an A4 piece of paper. The social media contests drew raised eyebrows from Western and Chinese observers concerned about body shaming, but in mainstream media, China's traditional beauty standards barely wavered.
Meanwhile, countless women struggled not only to find clothes that made them feel beautiful, but also to find body-positive role models.
Now a handful of confident international fashion influencers are determined to give plus-sized women in China a voice. Kiu, a Hong Kong native based in Shanghai, is one such influencer, who knows that shopping in China's fast-fashion stores – bursting with extra-small clothes – can be no less than challenging. She started her Kiu Plus vlog in 2018 to help plus-sized viewers confidently navigate this arena, and the societal pressure to be thin.
Her posts on WeChat, China’s biggest instant messaging platform, and Weibo, a Chinese microblogging platform, range from travel experiences and food reviews to trying on purchases from online shopping website Taobao, Uniqlo, Zara, and other retailers. Each video is set to pump-up pop music, showing her confidently modelling her outfits in the dressing room, and linking to each garment in the post.
Comments on her posts are overwhelmingly positive, with some affirming the difficulty they face shopping for clothes.
