'Australia's Next Top Model' Judge Disses Plus-Size Models
Charlotte Dawson enjoys the Virgin Mobile pie eating competition in Sydney, Australia. Photo: Getty Images
Good news, Kate Moss. There's a new anti-curves meanie in town to take the heat off of you.
"Australia's Next Top Model" judge Charlotte Dawson has fueled controversy for negative comments she made about plus-size models during the show's Melbourne auditions yesterday, Ninemsn reports.
Dawson, on hand to judge hundreds of aspiring teenage models at the Chadstone shopping center for the show's sixth cycle, showed herself to be an apparent graduate of the Karl Lagerfeld School of Public Speaking by announcing that the plus-size modeling industry in Australia was "non-existent," according to the source.
"There is no market for plus-size models in Australia," Dawson, a former model and TV presenter, said. "It would be tokenism to put a plus-size girl through just for the sake of it.
"I would like someone to name a plus-size model in Australia because I can't. We could have a plus-size model win the competition and she would end up doing catalogs for Target."
Meow! Someone hand Dawson a copy of this month's V Magazine. Or maybe the May 2009 issue of Australia's Harper's Bazaar -- the one with plus-size supermodel Crystal Renn throughout.
Dawson reportedly cited the show's season 5 winner Tahnee Atkinson, an Australia Size 10 beauty who had been billed as "curvaceous" and "full-figured," as having the ideal body type. (By the way, a Size 10 Down Under is a Size 6 in the US. "Full-figured" our you-know-what.)
"I think the industry internationally has had enough of the really skinny, scrawny models," Dawson told the source. "You couldn't call Tahnee curvy, she's just a normal, healthy girl."
(Funny. We thought a few curves were healthy and normal.)
Though Dawson reportedly did cite one curvier aspiring model during last week's auditions, she downplayed the idea, saying, "You can't change the industry overnight, there is just not enough work for them in Australia."
Unsurprisingly, Dawson's case of foot-in-mouth has sparked outrage from plus-size models and their agencies.
"For Charlotte Dawson to say there is no plus-size modeling industry in Australia is untrue," Darrianne Donnelly, director of the plus-size BGM Models, told the source. "I have models out there proving it every day."
Our take? Whether or not plus-size models have the same opportunities as straight-sized models in Australia is beside the point. Dawson should realize that it's people like her who have the power to change the industry's perception of beauty. Dismissing curvy models as a waste of time is irresponsible and a backwards step for the fashion industry.
Sounds like Dawson needs a time-out with Tyra. That'll teach her.
So what do you think? Is Dawson just telling it like it is, or were her comments malicious and narrow-minded? Leave a comment!
And read about Australia's controversy over a nude, unretouched model on the cover of Marie Claire.
Tags: australias next top model, bgm models, charlotte dawson, crystal renn, darrianne donnelly, Models, plus-size models, Reality TV, Skinny Models, tahnee atkinson
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lunamorgan, 3-23-2010, 2:59PM
Not only are her comments incredibly stupid, which they are, and closed minded, which they, they're also useless. Who cares what work opportunities there are in Australia, specifically? Isn't the point of all of the NTM shows throughout the world to find models that could work internationally? So, if there's work in the UK and Ireland, in the USA, in Canada, in parts of continental Europe, etc., why does it matter what work is available in Australia? No one wants to be an Australian model, they want to be an international super model FROM Australia.
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