With Tyra Banks, among others, drawing attention to the issues body image and size acceptance in recent weeks, curvy models Liis Windischmann and Diane Pellini have decided to take matters one step further: the fashion industry is talking the talk, they want to see it Walk the Catwalk.

“We are happy that Italy, Brazil, Spain and the USA have helped create worldwide discussion and are striving to keep the models who work Fashion Week healthy,” said Windischmann. ”While what they are doing is an important step in the right direction, we feel that the runway should be the end result of a series of changes.“

“Change must start in fashion schools and in the ideology of designers, not by issuing BMI [Body Mass Index] requirements,” added Pellini. “Quite simply, until the sample size changes, nothing else can change.”

After the eating disorder-related deaths of models Luisel Ramos and Ana Carolina Reston Macan in 2006, countries including Italy, Brazil, Spain and the USA began to implement rules and offer guidelines governing the size and health of models participating in fashion week. Windischmann and Pellini want to offer different solutions to this worldwide situation.

“The fashion industry is full of incredibly talented and fantastically creative people, and yet over 65% of the female population is seriously underrepresented in fashion,” said Pellini. “How can this be? I am confident that if these designers really put their minds to it, they can come up with beautiful designs that women of any size can wear fashionably.”

Windischmann and Pellini have issued a challenge to the fashion industry that is intended to address the problem at its roots:

· Fashion Schools, re-evaluate the philosophies being passed on to each generation of fashion students by educators, including creating limiting sample sizes, not designing beyond sizes 12 to 14 and implying that fashionable clothing should end at a certain size.

· Designers, create ONE runway outfit for the fall presentation of your spring line in a size 12 or higher to be worn by a curvy model.

· Designers, create ONE sample size for your fall presentation of your spring line in a size 12 or higher, to be made available to magazines and the press in order to encourage the use of size diversity in print media editorials and coverage.

· Magazines, feature ONE model size 12 or higher, in a minimum of ONE outfit, in a fashion editorial in your January 2008 issue.

“Clothing sample sizes generally fit models size 6 and under, dictating who we see in the media” said Pellini. “What message is being sent to women when only a small percentage of society is allowed to be truly fashionable, when what they see daily and are allowed to purchase does not apply to them?”

These challenges, if met, will accomplish many goals, including giving magazines the option to place curvier models in editorial spreads; providing images of size diversity in a world where ‘thin is in’ and – in the fashion world – the only option; and giving the top designers of tomorrow options regarding how they might develop the sizing of their future clothing lines. This is particularly important considering these designers will be shaping the world of fashion and the minds of young women for years to come.

“We are asking fashion students, members of fashion schools, designers, magazines and their editors, celebrities, media, companies and individuals to join us to help bring about true change in fashion, change that will make women of all sizes feel included and beautiful,” said Windischmann. “It is time for the various divisions of fashion to stop passing responsibility and implement genuine change from the foundation of fashion. It is time for a new fashion consciousness.”

Liis Windischmann and Diane Pellini are curvy models and advocates for size acceptance. They recently produced a retro pin-up calendar featuring models sizes 12 to 14, the Fenomenal Calendar.

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Available for interviews, Liis Windischmann and Diane Pellini

Attached is a declaration card. Please sign, scan and email it to declaration@walkthecatwalk.com or fax to (416) 960-8790
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For more information about the Fenomenal Calendar, please visit: www.fenomenalcalendar.com