Aussie model Robyn Lawley launches petition to boycott Victoria’s Secret

Australian model Robyn Lawley said she’s fed up with the lack of body diversity in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show – one of the most esteemed annual runway events in the world.

The 29-year-old, size 14 model has launched a petition to boycott the shows after the lingerie giant failed to cast a curvy or plus-size model in this year’s November event.

“I've felt like s--t every year looking at that show. I shouldn't have to feel that way,” the mum-of-one said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph recently.

“Where’s the inclusivity? Where's the diversity? The perfection is ­intense,” she said.

“I want actual cellulite on a catwalk, I want girls to be relatable.”

The six-foot-four beauty added that she’s concerned about how homogenous representations of women, especially by globally revered brands like Victoria’s Secret, will affect her young daughter Ripley, 3, as she grows up.

“The fact that it affected me so much growing up and we are all compared to what is deemed 'perfection,' I don't want her to have to experience that,” she said. 

Lawley isn’t the first plus-size model to criticise the mega brand. Models like Ashley Graham and Tabria Majors have previously called out Victoria’s Secret on the absence of diverse body sizes on its runways and have applied pressure on the brand to introduce a plus size range.

Graham was among a number of models who featured in an October, 2017 advertisement by US plus-size fashion label Lane Bryant titled the ‘I’m No Angel’ campaign. The advertisement aired during the Emmy Awards and featured the plus-size models discussing their body image struggles.

Lawley’s comments come after she took to Instagram this week to praise Cosmopolitan magazine for embracing body diversity. 

“They helped start my career in so many ways. I loved their body positivity; at a time where it was near impossible for someone of my size getting any editorial,” the model said in the post, paying tribute to the magazine which announced its closure this week.

Lawley’s modelling career skyrocketed after she featured in the June 2011 issue of Vogue Italia. The 29-year-old has worked with the likes of Sports Illustrated and became the first plus-size model to appear in the magazine’s 2015 Swimsuit Issue.