I’ve been covering New York Fashion Week for eight seasons now, and after the exciting debut of the first-ever plus size line on the official schedule (Cabiria as part of the Fashion Law Institute show back in 2013!), things sadly reverted back to the Fashion Week norm, with no plus models on the runway the following season.  Designer Becca McCharen-Tran of Chromat kicked the move towards inclusivity back off with her diverse show in September of 2014.  Since then, slow signs of progress have been made, with a handful of straight size designers (particularly McCharen-Tran, Christian Siriano, Prabal Gurung, and Tracy Reese) leading the way.  This season, we took another major step forward with two full plus size shows on the official schedule.  The first was Canada’s plus size leader, Addition Elle, who debuted current season pieces from their model collabs and their core range.

The show opened with the Jordyn Woods collab, filled with sporty athleisure pieces with a little edge, like the above orange sweatshirt dress, bomber jackets, and mesh bra tops.

Next up were the pieces from Addition Elle’s main lines, including the younger-leaning Love & Legend and the more sophisticated Michel Studio.  As everything from the runway is available to buy now, many fall trends were apparent, from sheer detailing to velvet to statement suits.

Addition Elle also joined in on the statement shirt trend, closing the ready-to-wear segment of the show with a “Labels Are For Clothes Only” shirt.

The last segment of the show was lingerie from Addition Elle’s collaboration with supermodel Ashley Graham.

The collection has some really pretty pieces, and it was nice to see so many plus models on the runway at Skylight Clarkson Square (the current equivalent of the Bryant Park Tents).

As always, I would love to see more body diversity amongst the models.  I know and <3 many of these gorgeous women, but I want to see more #visiblyplussize models on the runway with them, and a variety of body shapes as well.   We still have work to do to get to true inclusivity, but it was amazing to see a full show of nothing but plus models.  It was also amazing to have so many of the power players of the plus community in one place.

With my Editor in Chief, Madeline Jones of Plus Model Magazine

The scene at check in, with Troy, Marcy, Jenna, Maddy, and Liz

Bras and bustiers as fashion with Danielle Brooks and Gabi Gregg

After years of 99.99% of all fashion week models being on the smallest side of straight sizes, having this sizable plus presence felt amazing, and I’m really happy to have been part of it, as Yahoo News noted.