Curves ahead! The plus-size models that prove fashion is finally ready to embrace larger women

By Tamara Abraham for MailOnline
Updated: 10:56 EDT, 5 January 2010

First there was Dove's 'real women' campaign, then there was Beth Ditto, but to date it seems that larger women have failed to become anything more than a novelty in fashion.

After all, Sophie Dahl, the original plus-size model, eventually lost the weight that made her so famous, Kate Moss continues to live by the mantra: 'Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels', and only last year Ralph Lauren famously airbrushed a model to look so thin, her head was wider than her waist.

But could 2010 be the year that curves finally come of age?

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Size matters: Model Tara Lynn wears nothing but a slick of red lipstick while posing for V Magazine's size issue

V Magazine certainly believes that is the case, so much so that it has dedicated an entire issue to women of different shapes and sizes.

'The Size Issue', which hits news stands on January 14, features a high-fashion photo shoot starring no less than five curvaceous bombshells.

The images, by Norwegian fashion photographer Solve Sundsbo, see the models wearing everything from figure-hugging Agent Provocateur bodysuits to cut-out Gucci swimsuits.

One wears Dolce & Gabbana lingerie, while another dramatically poses in nothing but a slick of red lipstick.

The girls unashamedly flaunt full thighs, stomach rolls and love handles - things that would normally be airbrushed out on a high fashion magazine.

Figured out: Candice Huffine and Tara Lynn unashamedly flaunt their curves for photographer Solve Sundsbo

On form: Kasia P models Agent Provocateur's leopard-print bodysuit, while Candice Huffine proves Gucci's embellished cut-out swimsuit is not just for the super-slim

Sundsbo said: 'I loved the opportunity to show that you can be beautiful and sexy outside the narrow interpretations that normally define us.'

The same issue sees famed plus-size model Crystal Renn take on the slender Jacquelyn Jablonski, who at 17, has already modelled for Calvin Klein Jeans and Proenza Schouler.

And the U.S. glossy could well be on the money with its theme. Over the past few months, gap-toothed supermodel Lara Stone - who is currently dating David Walliams - has become famous in her own right thanks to her 'va-va voom' size 8 figure (most models are a UK size 4-6).

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Bombshells: Plus-size models Candice Huffine (left) and Michelle Olson (right) work the body-con look

Larger than life: Marquita Pring almost covers up in Pringle of Scotland knitwear, while Michelle Olson dares to bare in a Dolce & Gabbana corset

Gossip singer Beth Ditto's collection for Evans was a runaway success, with some items selling out in days.

And who could forget the media storm surrounding British designer Mark Fast's London Fashion Week show in September, after his stylist allegedly walked out over a decision to use plus-size models.

The models in question proved how sexy Fast's clingy knitted dresses could look on a curvaceous body, making them a sellout at Brown's, the London boutique in which they were sold.

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Shaping up, from left: Tara Lynn, Candice Huffine, Michelle Olson, Marquita Pring

So could skinny finally be on its way out? Realistically, no.

Even Stone, who is, by normal standards, very slim, admitted: ‘A lot of people say it’s nice to see someone who won’t break in half when you touch them. But I am still a woman and a person, and if you’re compared and confronted with your colleagues, and they’re all half your size, you think, “F***, I’m really fat!”’

But it seems that the fashion world is slowly making progress by beginning to accept more varied body shapes, and that there remains plenty of opportunity to embrace women that really look like women.

Photography: Solve Sundsbo

Styling: Nicola Formichetti

Models: Candice Huffine, Marquita Pring, Michelle Olson, Tara Lynn, Kasia P.

The full feature appears in V magazine, on sale from January 14; www.vmagazine.com