The first ever London Queer Fashion Show took place on September the 20th in Hackney. It may have passed you by as unfortunately it did not gather much mainstream media attention.
Certainly overdue and most welcome this event wanted to give visibility to diversity within the community and as the website says "showcase the greatest new talent, the people who know that gender exists beyond the binary, that clothing does not exist in male and female forms."
Also in September there was London Fashion Week, one of the 'big four' fashion weeks, a hugely influential trade show of high fashion designers, which is criticised yearly for not showing body sized diversity.
A quick look at some of the designers and models featured at both events, suggests that all 'high fashion' events suffer from the same problem.
Especially with queer fashion, one would hope that it would be the cornerstone of celebrating diversity in size and style - from high fashion to high street style. Not just the style of clothes, but in diversity of body shape.
What is plus size, anyway? And why is it so important for the fashion industry to make more of an effort to accurately represent the various body types in the world?
I had a chance to catch up with model Rae Lavender and asked her opinion of the fashion industry and whether it is any different to when she was scouted 11 years ago.
"I think things haven't changed much, skinny models are still dominant."
'Plus size' in the fashion industry in the UK can be as small as a size 14. Size 16 is the "national average" (I use this term loosely, as it doesn't make sense to me).
Also, it's so important to point out that I'm not shaming models under a size 10 - after all, people come in all shapes and sizes. What I'm referring to is the gross misrepresentation of sizing.
When Rae began she modelled for some big-names. It didn't turn out as expected though...
"Impressionable me thought 'I'm gonna be famous.' The whole thing was horrible. I don't really wanna name the companies but I did a shoot for a pretty big clothing brand but because I was so young and impressionable, I'd do anything anyone asked me to. I'd wear mini skirts and think 'this is my way forward.'
"They would say "You're too fat, your jaw's too wide, your legs are horrible! Luckily I have quite thick skin, but you know, if it was anyone else...say a sensitive young person then this is how models, especially young women get eating disorders and all sorts."
One of the most recent studies shows that 20% of women in the UK are a size 18 and above. But, according to some very interesting findings from The Fashion Spot last year, only 1.4% of women over a size 12 were featured in fashion campaigns in the UK.
That's a significant 18.6% gap - so I can safely say the fashion industry has still got a long way to go with regards to representing a cross-section of society today.
So, why is this such a big issue?
Rae told me, "It's not about having non-skinny models, it's about having variety. Some people are naturally built to be thinner, but the realistic proportion of people who are naturally slimmer is less than the amount of slimmer models we see in the media and at fashion shows."
There's also the issue of pigeon-holing people into sizes without considering body shape. Some people may be a natural size 8 with big hips, some may be a size 18 with a larger chest, some a size 20 with narrower hips and a bigger tummy - the body types of women are nearly endless.
And what about men?
SizeUK revealed the average British male waist size to be 37 inches - yet trousers from both Primark and Topman only go up to a size 40 inches (at the last check).
Even plus size US model Jermain Hollman has a 36 inch waist - and that's still considered way above the average waist size for non plus size male models.
Could it be possible that the retailers themselves have fallen victim to sizing misrepresentation? It seems they really do think there just aren't many people over a certain size because the media and advertising portrays it this way. Or perhaps retailers are indulging in a bit of vanity sizing where a pair of trousers may state they're a 40 inch whereas, whereas in reality they're a 44 inch waist.
Editor of Men's Health, Toby Wiseman, spoke to The Guardian about why size diversity is not discussed as much as women's. He said, "Men can be fat or thin, toned or not, but bums tend to be bums, our hips are fairly homogenous, and we don't have the vast variety in breast shape or size to contend with."
This is why I believe it is so important to show plus size models at both LGBTQI+ fashion events and mainstream ones.
Recently, model Munroe Bergdorf, a black, queer, trans woman, and the brief face of L'Oréal, gave a rousing call for more brands to create genuine, empowering advertising campaigns for people of colour and the queer community.
And last word from Rae, "The key thing is for a woman to be able to dress just exactly how she wants to, regardless of body type. That's why I want to break through that and be like 'Fuck you, I don't want to dress how you tell me to. I want to see real people in fashion shows - LGBTQI+ or otherwise.'"