The Call for Smarter Dummies
This is the photograph of curvier mannequins in a shop in Sweden that has gone viral over the past few weeks. The full story of the wrongful attribution of this photo to H&M is interesting. Apparently, this photo is actually several years old and came from a display in the Swedish shop Åhléns. Despite all of the mis-information spread about this photo online, the positive reaction to a curvier mannequin was nearly unanimous in web readers.
Shops and shoppers are also keen for a change in the female figure represented by the average mannequin. For the past few years,mannequin manufacturer Displaysense has seen orders for size 12-14 fashion mannequins soar by 16% as shops ditch size zero in favour of a more hourglass figure. Contributing factors include the trend for embracing Forties and Fifties glamour in fashion and stars like Adele and Christina Hendricks making curves sexy again. Displaysense spokesman Jim Moody said: “Lagerfeld may want size zero on his catwalk but the commercial viability of the growing plus-size clothing market is being seized by high street chains and independent retailers alike.”
Displaysense believe “Staying relevant to your audience is essential and our order books show that sales of larger sized and bigger breasted mannequins…are undoubtedly on the rise…”.
