It’s 2024, and it seems like body positivity and its movements are here to stay. Aside from the Victoria’s Secret rebrand failure, the awareness around differently-looking and abled bodies seems to increase each year. What is body positivity, exactly? Philosophy scholar Céline Leboeuf calls it a “movement to accept our bodies, regardless of size, shape, skin tone, gender, and physical abilities.”
So we once again bring you the trend started by Dominican model Denise Mercedes and her friend designer Maria Castellanos. The two women continue their “Style Not Size” campaign to demonstrate that there is no “ideal” body type. They both pose wearing the same clothes, although their body types are different.
One half of the duo, Maria Castellanos, spoke with Bored Panda. She told us more about the secret to the project’s longevity and what she and Denise have in mind for the future. Read our conversation with her below!
We also reached out to Mallorie Dunn, inclusive fashion designer, owner of SmartGlamour, and professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, to learn more about the body positivity movement. Read our interview with her below!
One half of the duo, Maria Castellanos, spoke with Bored Panda. She told us more about the secret to the project’s longevity and what she and Denise have in mind for the future. Read our conversation with her below!
Maria tells Bored Panda that she and Denise are super proud of their project Style Not Size. “[It] has been such an opportunity not just for us but for all women and men who feel excluded by the fashion industry,” the designer says. “We’ve been able to change the approach to inclusivity in some of today’s [renowned] fashion brands.”
The creator is especially happy about the reach that the movement has had. “As you know, the hashtag has become a movement and a rising trend on all social media platforms, giving not just Denise and me a voice but many others as well.”
The success of Style Not Size allows its creators to try out more new things. “Due to it rising as a hot trend, we have allowed the movement to take on a life of its own through others,” Maria tells us. “It will continue to be strong, thanks to [those] who keep it alive!”
“#stylenotsize is a continuous form of content on each of our platforms – but in a more organic way. What I mean with this is that Denise and I have given our personal content and art more [of a] push throughout the last years, making #stylenotsize a ‘branch’ of what we do and not our entire identity. This allows us to grow as individual creators who continue to have a say in the body positivity movement,” Maria explains in more detail.
“As for our future, [we plan to] continue to grow our individual community and push the #stylenotsize movement through our feeds as we see fit.”
We sought some expertise to know more about body positivity. Mallorie Dunn, founder of the clothing brand SmartGlamour, kindly agreed to tell us more about it.
“Firstly, I want to reiterate that body positivity is a concept that was born from fat liberation,” the inclusive fashion designer begins. “And, unfortunately, over the past recent years, has been watered down and over-commercialized to the point where the roots have been lost to many.”
Dunn explains that the true meaning of body positivity sometimes gets misconstrued. “People incorrectly conflate body positivity with self-love. Body positivity – at its origin – was not about simply feeling positive about your body but about detaching our bodies, their size and shape, their abilities from our worthiness. Fat people deserve rights, respect, kindness, opportunity, and equity,” Dunn emphasizes.
