Celebrities

The women on a mission to revolutionise the modelling world and end 'plus size'

The women on a mission to revolutionise the modelling world and end 'plus size'

Meet Ajay Rochester.

The Australian actress and TV personality wants the fashion world to stop using the term "plus sized model". Her "#droptheplus" campaign is gaining support in all areas - including from Stefania Ferrario, the face of Dita Von Teese's lingerie line.

In an Instagram post, Ferrario said she was sick of being labelled "plus sized" and was a model "FULL STOP".

She added it could be harmful "and damaging for the minds of young girls" to see women like her labelled as bigger.

Unfortunately in the modelling industry if you're above a US size 4 [a British size 8] you are considered plus size, and so I'm often labelled a 'plus size' model. I do NOT find this empowering... I'm NOT proud to be called 'plus', but I AM proud to be called a 'model', that is my profession!

The campaign is gaining momentum: their calls have since been reported by Elle and Cosmopolitan, and #droptheplus is gaining traction on Twitter.

The fashion world is increasingly divided over the term 'plus size'. Last year, Elle provoked outrage after describing a size 10 Calvin Klein lingerie model as "plus sized".

The row prompted Wilhelmina Models agent Josh Stephens to describe the term as "antiquated", saying: "Fashion is always evolving and the term 'plus-size' has meant so many different things. It used to be anything over a size 12 [size 16 in Britain]. Then it was anything larger than a size 4 [size 8 in Britain], which is ridiculous."

However model Laura Wells, whose picture Ms Rochester used when promoting the #droptheplus campaign (above), has said she is "proud" of the term. "We need to stop shaming other people's bodies, be happy that models like me are helping to change the tide of the industry," Ms Wells wrote on Instagram.

More: Meet the plus-size model making history

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