Why The Sabyasachi Plus-Sized Model Post Isn’t All That Offensive

On Women’s Day, when the whole world was serving up their token feminism, Sabyasachi put out a post featuring a plus-sized woman. And it threw the internet into a tizzy. I mean, practically anything will get us all riled up at this point, but this one had everyone particularly intrigued.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuvPdM1BmM4/

We get it. This was a departure for Sabya’s brand and the aesthetic they usually follow. Sabysachi’s campaigns largely feature skinny women with fantastic cleavage. For the most part, we saw this as a part of a strategy – one that fashion brands use so extensively- that it’s a blind spot for us. Then, Sabya went and disrupted it and it was crazy. Most people were upset that they chose to talk about confidence and body positivity on Women’s Day while they steadfastly ignore this audience during the rest of the year.

Here’s what we think. We think it’s okay that they chose to include diversity on Women’s Day. Think about it. If you wanted to draw attention to something new, what day would you choose? One that’s about celebrating women just seems natural, right? Pretty much the logic they would have gone with. Yes, they’ve never featured a plus-sized woman before. But they have now. Mainstream fashion still doesn’t talk about women above a size 2. So it’s a start. A step in the right direction.

No, we aren’t saying we are grateful. This conversation should have started a while ago. We should have seen so many normal women, Instagram wars in the comments such as this would be a thing of the past. But we are just starting to see larger women and celebrate them and that’s why, let’s take this as a positive step and leave the offense-taking for another day.