Designers Prefer Sample Sizes During Awards Season

While there's been a lot of glad talk about this year's New York Fashion Week being the most size-inclusive ever, fashion still has a lot of catching up to do. When it comes to red carpet season, most designers are still refusing to dress actors who fall outside sample size range. (Depending on the designer, a sample size can run anywhere from a 0 to a 6.)

After "SNL"'s Leslie Jones put the fashion industry on blast via Twitter for refusing to dress her for the Ghostbusters premiere (Christian Siriano to the rescue!) last year, there are designers who still turn down actors requests' for dresses during awards season if they fall outside of the sample size range (sizes 0 to 6).

During a red carpet interview at last night's Emmys, Rachel Bloom, co-creator of hit TV show "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" admitted that her Gucci gown was off-the-rack because designers couldn't (or wouldn't) provide her a gown in her size.

However, some non-sample-size actors were luckier than Bloom. Gabriel Langenbrunner, stylist for Shannon Purser of "Stranger Things" started researching designers immediately after Purser's nomination for her work on the Netflix series. Sachin and Babi (one of the designers on Langenbrunner's shortlist) offered to make her dress for the Emmys.

One would think designers would fulfill an actor's request to wear one of their designs at a high-profile event. But, as that Vogue article above mentions, when the designer's public relations team gets involved it becomes more complicated. Certain stars rank higher than others, so an acclaimed actor up for a prestigious award will get a dress quicker than the villain on a reality TV show. But when it comes to size, some designers won't loan any clothing out to a star above a size 6 because that star may not covey the designer's idea of who wears the label.

While Bloom and Jones didn't name names, it would be interesting to find out how many designers who refused to dress straight-sized actors included plus-sized models on their runway this month (if any). Chalk this up as one step forward, two steps back.