24 Times Celebrities, Stylists, And Designers Stood Up And Called Out The Fashion Industry

"If you’re not making clothes for me, and if you don’t want to make clothes for me, I don’t want to wear your [designs]." —Lizzo

Though the fashion industry has made a lot of important strides in the last few years, it's still riddled with issues when it comes to the inclusion of people of different body types, races, and genders. However, many people — including industry insiders like high-profile models and designers — have been drawing attention to fashion's lack of inclusivity and calling for much-needed change.

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Here are 24 celebrities, stylists, and designers who called out the fashion industry for its lack of inclusivity:

1. When Christian Siriano was praised for offering to dress Leslie Jones, who'd tweeted about the issues she faced trying to find a designer to dress her for the Ghostbusters premiere, he said, "Congrats aren’t in order, a change is."

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He tweeted, "It shouldn't be exceptional to work with brilliant people just because they're not sample size."

2. In response to Leslie Jones' struggle, Barbie Ferreira tweeted, "Curvy women are not allowed to be edgy, not allowed to be stylish or allowed to explore their looks like everyone else in this industry."

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She added, "So don't expect much from my designer looks in the future until people wake the fuck up... Hearing an actress in a huge film having similar struggles…I feel hopeless. Am I gonna have to wear Sears when I win my Oscar?"

3. Stylist Law Roach told Paper Magazine that when he first started working with Zendaya, "a lot of the [high fashion] houses weren't dressing Black girls," so he focused on establishing relationships with emerging designers instead.

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During the Hollywood Reporter's Stylist Roundtable, he said, "It’s a big fuck you because we all know the [public relations] want to bring someone to you because ‘oh she can get her in Valentino’ but what I wanted to prove was that she doesn’t have to be in Valentino to become a fashion girl. So now that everybody wants to dress her, I go back and say, ‘Not this season!’”

4. When Dascha Polanco was rejected by a designer brand she'd spent a ton of her own money on over the years because she was "not the sizes [they] have," she vowed that, if they asked her to wear their clothes in the future, she "will not give them the pleasure."

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She told Vogue, "I think that Hollywood-wise, people that have influence have to start making the change and speaking up."

5. When British Vogue struggled to find designer clothes for Ashley Graham's January 2017 cover shoot, editor-in-chief Alexandra Shulman called out the fashion houses that "flatly refused to lend us their clothes" and said they were traveling in an "unwise" direction.

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In her editor's letter, she said, "It seems strange to me that while the rest of the world is desperate for fashion to embrace broader definitions of physical beauty, some of our most famous fashion brands appear to be traveling in the opposite — and, in my opinion, unwise — direction."

Coach ultimately provided clothes for Ashley.

6. In 2018, someone on her team told Tess Holliday that it would be impossible for her to work in high fashion because "the designers aren’t making clothing in [her] size," so she fired them.

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She told Cosmopolitan, "Since I’ve fired them, I’ve done two high fashion shoots. I’ve shot two major covers. I am continuing to do even cooler stuff in the high fashion world, and basically prove them wrong in, like, four months. When I prove people wrong that said I could never do high fashion or my critics that don’t believe in me, it feels really damn good.”

7. Marquita Pring said that every year at fashion week "it feels like it's getting less [inclusive] than when we first came out the gate."

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She told Bustle, “We need to continue having the conversation and continue inspiring casting directors to cast curvier women in their shows. And we need designers to start providing the samples for it.”

8. In 2016 essay for the Washington Post, Tim Gunn said, "I love the American fashion industry, but it has a lot of problems, and one of them is the baffling way it has turned its back on plus-size women."

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He said, "There is money to be made here... But many designers — dripping with disdain, lacking imagination or simply too cowardly to take a risk — still refuse to make clothes for them... This is a design failure and not a customer issue. There is no reason larger women can’t look just as fabulous as all other women."

9. Model and author Leah Vernon was once rejected from a London Fashion Week afterparty even though she had an invitation, and after she and her friends got a manager to let them in, "we were the only visibly plus-size women there."

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She told Glamour, "Stuff like this happens too often when you’re plus size.”

10. In response to the praise for her lingerie brand Savage x Fenty's inclusivity, Rihanna said, "That consumer is one that's been neglected before, and I'm not gonna let that happen here."

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She told Entertainment Tonight, "I have a unique opportunity to change things."

11. Philomena Kwao told Elle that "the plus-size industry has been great with size diversity, but it hasn't really been great for skin tone diversity."

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She continued, "There's not many models in the US that have my depth, like, really dark skin, that are also plus size. Skin color has been one of those things we haven't really, really addressed on a large, widespread scale. The fashion industry and plus-size industry on all fronts have been quite slow." 

12. Crystal Renn suggested that the standard sample size be changed from 0 to 8 because "by having a size 8 sample, you are giving freedom to a designer."

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On a NEDA and the Model Alliance panel for National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, she said, "Most of the models are going to be size 6s and 8s, and you could have 10s, and if a really amazing model walked in who was a size 0, you would tailor the dress down to her."

13. In 2013, Marilyn Model Agency president Chris Gay said that "the industry standards are ridiculous."

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On a NEDA and the Model Alliance panel for National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, he said, "They're not standards I think a woman can [maintain] throughout the course of her life or career."

14. During a 2016 cover shoot for Harper's Bazaar, Khloé Kardashian said, "I definitely think the fashion industry, and people in general, look at me more now that I've lost weight."

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She added, "Even on shoots, I would never have options for clothing. There would always be this attention on Kourtney and Kim, but I was too much work for [stylists] or they had nothing in my size.

15. Calling attention to the difficulties she has shopping for new outfits for last-minute events, fashion blogger Gabi Fresh pointed out that "as effortless as it may look...being fat and well-dressed is a fucking challenge."

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She tweeted, "This isn't me complaining about my job, which I know is a privilege. I just wish fat people could run out and find things to wear last minute."

16. Lizzo, who has no time for designers who are slow to expand their size ranges, told Allure, "If you’re not making clothes for me, and if you don’t want to make clothes for me, I don’t want to wear your [designs]."

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She continued, "I look good in other [things] anyway. But call me if you want to dress me. If you want to change the game and dress a fat body, call me."

17. Jameela Jamil told Stylist that even "as a UK size 10–12, [she] can’t fit into most of the clothes on any shoot...if the clothes samples were bigger, there would be more options...and we could pin or alter dresses for anyone [else]."

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She said, "Instead we are forced into a uniform of thinness, and everyone who consumes our media thinks that if every celebrity is one size, then that must be the 'normal' size and there’s something wrong with you if you don’t fit that aesthetic. Wrong. There is nothing wrong with you, there is something wrong with this business and its complete disrespect of women and our bodies.  " 

18. While reminiscing on some of her favorite past red carpet looks on her Instagram story, Blake Lively recalled the time she had to cobble together a look for herself "because no one had samples that fit [her] after giving birth."

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She said, "It doesn't send a great message to women when their bodies don't fit into what brands have to offer... Instead of feeling proud [of my body and its ability to give birth], I felt insecure. Simply because I didn't fit into clothes."

19. In the 1980s, Aretha Franklin publically asked both Calvin Klein and Valentino to "please make 14s" because their size ranges didn't go beyond 12.

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She said, “I become enraged every time I see the Valentino line... Please if you won't do a 14 — and you're making the girls who wear 14 very unhappy — please do a special order for me.”

20. In 2018, Corissa Enneking, the blogger who created Fat Girl Flow, wrote a viral open letter to Forever 21 about the terrible experience she had in shopping in their store as a plus-size customer. "Tell me why the sweet hell the tiny plus-size corner is dimly lit with yellow lights, no mirrors, and zero accessories on the shelves," she wrote.

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She continued, "I thought for a moment, Maybe I’m overreacting. Let’s see…does the rest of the store look like this?” No. Definitely not. Even the most crowded sections of the store were clean and tidied... I knew I was being pushed aside. I knew I was an afterthought."

Forever 21's social media team responded to Corissa's letter. They said, "We can assure you that this is not an accurate representation of our brand’s visual merchandising and view of any of our customers. We are investing greatly in our Plus Size Collection this year and are always trying to improve the assortment and merchandising."

21. After Ed Razek, the then-chief marketing officer at Victoria's Secret's parent brand, said he thinks trans women shouldn't be included in the lingerie brand's fashion show "because the show is a fantasy," Halsey, who'd already filmed their performance for the show, released a statement that they "stand in solidarity [with trans people], and complete and total acceptance is the only ‘fantasy’ that [they] support.”

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On Instagram, she said, "As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I have no tolerance for a lack of inclusivity. Especially not one motivated by stereotype... If you are a trans person reading this, and these comments have made you feel alienated or invalidated please know that you have allies."

22. Robyn Lawley led a boycott of the 2018 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show because "it’s time Victoria’s Secret recognized the buying power and influence of women of ALL ages, shapes, sizes, and ethnicities."

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On Instagram, she said, "The female gaze is powerful, and together, we can celebrate the beauty of our diversity. It’s about time Victoria’s Secret celebrated the customers that fuel its bottom line."

She called for her followers to sign a petition then post their own unretouched photos with the hashtag #weareallangels. She also partnered with Third Love to donate a bra to women and girls in need for every person who used the hashtag.

Victoria's Secret canceled its annual fashion show the following year.

23. In 2019, Kate Upton said that "every woman needs to be represented" in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and that "otherwise, it's a snoozefest."

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On Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, she said, "We're sick of seeing the same body type. You have to be body inclusive now." 

24. And finally, when it comes to designers offering a larger range of sizes, Danielle Brooks doesn't think "we should pat anybody on the back for [doing] something they should’ve done 30 years ago."

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She told Vogue, "I don’t know if fashion has made a wholehearted effort. It’s more like, ‘Oh this is a trend, let’s get on it.’ ... When I look at the ads, I don’t see faces like mine, I see skinny white women.”