Myla Dalbesio, Calvin Klein's 'Plus-Size' Model, Stirs Controversy Over Fashion Industry's Unrealistic Beauty Standards
In the fashion and modeling industry, if you’re over a size 6, blurred lines exist for what body shape is considered plus-size and what isn't — including Calvin Klein’s most recent controversial ad. Twenty-seven-year-old Myla Dalbesio, the clothing line's size 10 model from Wisconsin, has made headlines for being “bigger than all the girls” Calvin Klein has ever worked with. Now, is the brand that launched Kate Moss and the “waifish look” labeling Dalbesio as “plus-size” or is it communicating its “Perfectly Fit” line is more inclusive to a variety of silhouettes?
"It’s not like [Calvin Klein] released this campaign and [was] like, 'Whoa, look, there’s this plus size girl in our campaign.'" They released me in this campaign with everyone else; there’s no distinction. It’s not a separate section for plus size girls,” Dalbesio told Elle in an interview. The size 10 model was genuinely shocked to have made it into the fashion company’s Perfectly Fit campaign, as she expressed, "It's kind of confusing because I'm a bigger girl.”
Calvin Klein’s recruitment came as a surprise for Dalbesio who has struggled with body image throughout her life. The model risked her life to whittle herself to straight size 8 by abusing Adderall, crash dieting, and suffering from bulimia. Delbesio remains more hopeful about size in the modeling industry knowing she is not skinny enough to be with the “skinny girls” and not large enough to be with the “large girls.”
Since the Wisconsin model’s image has gone public, she has been celebrated as a “plus-size” model, with Elle Australia calling her “medium-sized.” However, according to a comment Calvin Klein made, the “these images are intended to communicate that our new line is more inclusive and available in several silhouettes in an extensive range of sizes," TIME reported. Dalbesio confirmed to TIME “plus-size” was “never part of the picture in any way” while she was on the Calvin Klein shoot.
From the other side of the pond, celebrities like Keira Knightley have sought to challenge the unrealistic beauty standards projected by the media. In August, the actress agreed to go topless for a photo shoot in Interview Magazine as long as her body was not Photoshopped. Knightly, Dalbesio and other women in the limelight are speaking up for the average woman.
This is a celebration of the female body, the definition of real women everywhere. Calvin Klein’s most recent ad is not a “plus-size” model, it’s a real woman.