JennieRunk
When H&M used model Jennie Runk, who is a size 12, for a swimsuit campaign in 2013, they were hailed not only for aligning their brand with a non-size zero model, but also for refusing to use the term "plus size." A new documentary, "Straight/Curve," out September 2016, will look at how this is the sign of things to come in fashion. H&M

Although the documentary "Straight/Curve" doesn't come out until September 2016, the film about the plus-size revolution in fashion is getting a lot of buzz. Directed by Jenny McQuaile and produced by former plus-size model Jessica Lewis, "Straight/Curve" looks at the coming revolution in the fashion industry, where size 4 is the threshold for so-called plus-size modeling, and many brands are afraid to create clothes for size 10 and up.

Featuring interviews with photographers, stylists and plus-size models including Jennie Runk, Sabina Karlsson and Natalie Torres, "Straight/Curve" is coming out as complaints from women inside and outside the fashion and beauty industries are getting louder.

Target was recently criticized for carrying its Lily Pulitzer-designed line in plus sizes only online. Victoria's Secret "Perfect Body" campaign received an onslaught of criticism. And even the term "plus size" has been called out for its suggestion that it is outside the norm, when, in fact, the average American woman is a size 12.

"I know beautiful people who are size zero and are naturally that way, but to say that that's the only beauty that should be showcased is not realistic and hurts our society," says model Leah Kelley in the doc. "We have been starved of the curvy woman for so long -- pun intended."

Australian model Stefania Ferrario -- a plus size model at size 8 -- recently started a hashtag campaign called #droptheplus which calls out the term as dangerous to women. In an Instagram post, which featured the model in the buff, she wrote, "Let's have models of ALL shapes, sizes and ethnicities, and drop the misleading labels. I'm NOT proud to be called 'plus', but I AM proud to be called a 'model', that is my profession! Visit droptheplus.org for full explanation of the dangers this label carries (especially on young impressionable girls)."

Model Georgina Burke echoes the calls of many when she says that success in this arena will mean more than increased visibility of plus-size models and increased availability of plus-size fashion: "The day we don't get so excited about seeing a plus-size model in a magazine is the day we've made it."

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