Fashion Runways Showed Fewer Plus-Size Models This Season

The Fall-Winter 2023 runway season closed with a pattern more consistent than any single silhouette or color: a scarcity of plus-size models. Across shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris, CNN reported that larger bodies were notably absent from catwalks that, in prior seasons, had begun including more size diversity, according to CNN Style.

The outlet's headline quoted an assessment of the shift as "a definitive backslide," a phrase CNN used to frame a season it said stood out less for any single garment trend — ruffles, pleated skirts, tailored coats — than for who was, and was not, wearing them.

What did this season's runways actually show?

CNN's reporting centered on the four major fashion capitals — New York, London, Milan and Paris — where the outlet found a reduced presence of plus-size models compared with recent seasons. The report did not provide a numerical count of plus-size castings, so any change in scale beyond "notable scarcity," as CNN described it, cannot be independently verified from the material reviewed.

Why are weight-loss drugs part of this story?

CNN linked the runway shift to a broader moment in which injectable weight-loss medications have moved into mainstream conversation. The outlet reported that five injectable medications functioning as appetite suppressants are currently available by prescription in the United States, with a sixth medication, Rybelsus, taken as an oral pill rather than an injection.

In the United Kingdom, CNN reported two such medications have been officially approved, describing it as the largest influx of weight-loss medication the country has seen in almost a decade. The report did not specify prescribing volumes or patient counts for either market, so the scale of usage — as opposed to the number of approved drugs — is not established in the sourcing reviewed here.

What is Ozempic actually approved to treat?

CNN noted that Ozempic and Wegovy share the same active ingredient, semaglutide, but that Ozempic is intended primarily to treat Type 2 diabetes. Wegovy carries a separate approval pathway tied to weight management. CNN reported that off-label use of Ozempic for weight loss has circulated widely in entertainment circles, describing it as what the outlet called Hollywood's "worst-kept weight loss secret."

The distinction matters for readers trying to parse coverage: a drug approved for diabetes management being used, reportedly, for weight loss is a different regulatory situation than a drug like Wegovy, which was approved with weight management as an intended use.

How solid is the link between the drugs and the runway trend?

Here the sourcing is thinner than the headline framing might suggest. CNN's report establishes two things independently: first, that plus-size representation on Fall-Winter 2023 runways declined by the outlet's own observation; second, that semaglutide-based drugs became more available and more discussed during the same period. The report does not include data — such as designer or casting-agency statements, or industry surveys — directly tying the two trends together beyond the timing overlap and the broader cultural conversation CNN documented.

That gap is worth naming plainly. A correlation in timing, as reported, is not the same as an established causal chain from drug availability to casting decisions. CNN's own framing treats the medication context as backdrop for the runway finding, not as a proven mechanism.

What comes next for runway diversity tracking?

CNN's report arrived as a retrospective look at one completed season rather than a tracked trend line across multiple years, and it did not cite an ongoing methodology — such as a size-diversity index or repeat survey — for measuring plus-size representation season over season. Readers looking for a rigorous count, as opposed to a qualitative read of "scarcity," will need reporting beyond what is available in this account.

The underlying tension CNN's report surfaces — a fashion industry that has, in recent seasons, publicly embraced size-inclusive casting alongside a wider cultural embrace of appetite-suppressant medications — is one the outlet frames as unresolved rather than settled, and the report offers observation more than explanation for why the two trends moved together this particular season.

For the full account, including additional detail on individual shows, see CNN's original reporting.

Artiglio is A coming-soon iPhone chief of staff for briefings and drafts. Not on the App Store yet.