Ester: We have the same story. The same customer is coming back, coming back, and coming back. We even receive emails like, ‘Take all my money, please!’
Vogue: We’re almost out of time. There’s way more that I’d love to talk about, but what is something that you would like to convey to the industry, as a parting message?
Balthazar: Obviously, we are not saving lives, but we are making lives better. All of us are now in this weird [landscape], and truly we have power by being able to speak to you. We need all the support we can get to make it happen.
Sinéad: I’m still waiting for a fund, perhaps from a patron, someone who believes in extended sizing, to offer a certain amount of grants per season to brands who want to start to develop a second sample size. I think the barrier is money. Not for larger brands, but for small brands, so many people I know actually want to improve their casting to resonate more with the audiences that they’re trying to go after.
Karoline: Sinéad told me this idea before over dinner, and I was like, yes! I think there needs to be more initiatives in place. We are now facing this pandemic of people shrinking themselves, and we don’t really know what consequences there will be for that in the future. How is it going to affect teenage girls who are looking at these shows?
Ester: Change can come from the bottom also. I think schools need to teach in a different way and stop only buying mannequins in EU 36. Students can’t all do a free internship at Ester Manas, Sinéad O’Dwyer and Karoline Vitto. But without that, they will not learn to work around a different body. Everything has to come from the top, yes, but also maybe the other way — these ideas need to come from education.
