Back to the Future

In a past interview with Tembea Kisumu the founder of the show, Winnie Wenger said each one of us has gone through the selfawareness and self-acceptance journey, and if not, one is yet to. With this being her 8th show there is no doubt that she is a fervent crusader against the embracing of a certain size of models in Kenya and joins the global conversation of body image positivity and diversity in the fashion industry.

Plus-size women have been victims of body shaming and online harassment due to their physical appearances with words like fat and chunky typed boldly in some celebrities’ and influencers’ comment sections. Hateful remarks by online bullies have created a somewhat insecurity about how women and girls of plus-size bodies view themselves raising questions like those of Lizzo’s ‘How dare she, how dare she love herself, how could she?’.

These negative body images root deeply and do take time to change and like the Sweet Love hit-maker Wahu after being a victim of body shaming due to her 22.5kgs weight gain once said, “to anyone who has ever been body shamed, remember what the shamers say is not a reflection of you.

It’s really a reflection of the quality of person they are. So don’t take their negativity to heart.”

Wheels are slightly turning and fashion being dynamic is changing from the everyday obsession of the ‘slim’ models who have been gracing the runway for decades to a more body-diverse program that embraces different body types and sizes with brands and designers tapping into the potential of this gradual shift. In a Glamour article by Hannah BanksWalker on Body Diversity Within the Fashion Industry she states that while fashion continues to set the tone for what we all wear, it’s actually everybody’s problem if it’s only showing these clothes on one type of body or, worse, only making them for a handful of sizes.