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[music playing] charlot duboc: welcome to"fashion week international," a new show that reports on themost fabulous fashion weeks in the world, and the cultureand politics behind them. charlot duboc: have you heard offull figured fashion week? female speaker: well,not really. female speaker: no. female speaker: what's that? female speaker: no, i haven't.

female speaker: full figuredfashion week, what does that mean? charlot duboc: i was in newyork for fashion week. no, not that one. the first annual full figuredfashion week. the dress size in the usis 14 and growing. sick of fad diets and stretchymuumuu dresses designed to disguise their lady lumps, thesewomen want to celebrate their shape with coutureadaptations and sequins.

i came here to investigate theextent to which the plus size industry is really empoweringthe fuller figured woman or if it's simply a case of cashingin on the fat dollar. so we're going to the runwaycompetition to see a load of models from all over america. and they're going to just battleit out on the catwalk. where are we going? five. here we go.

hey. how are you doing? female speaker: sogood to see you. male speaker: likewise. female speaker: thank youso much for coming. put your hands together forthese beautiful ladies who are going to rock the stage. [cheering and applause] female speaker: ladies,are you ready?

female speaker: letme get some music. dj, please. male speaker: somebody thatwasn't full figured might do that and they probably wouldhave broke down and cried. but her being so confident andher, she made it work. and it took a lot of gutsand it took some fortitude to do that. and that's what it is. charlot duboc: when you see thatfull figure on the cat

walk, what happens? male speaker: i just liketheir attitude. and it surprises me howconfident they are in them self when society wants themto be something else. you know what i mean? and i'm glad that theyembrace that. charlot duboc: what areyou looking for? what makes a winner? brandon: if you feel sexy, ifyou feel confident, if you

feel curvy, then you canwork the runway. with no matter whether you're asize 2 or a size 22, you can still do it. my name is brandon coats. and i'm here today. and i'm actually judging thefull figured and fabulous competition. charlot duboc: what do you thinkof this whole event? what do you think of fullfigured fashion week?

brandon: plus sized womenfor too long have been marginalized andnot catered to. so here's actually a marketwhere we celebrate plus sized women in all their fabulosity. charlot duboc: so, hi. your wife just wonthe competition. how do you feel? male speaker: i'm a lucky man. i mean, not a lot of people cansay that they're married

to a model. bigger is better. what can i say? [applause and cheering] female speaker: i am ecstatic. i mean, words can't reallyexpress exactly how i feel. i've worked so hard for this. you know, you can be fullfigured and healthy. charlot duboc: one of thehilarious things that somebody

said to me was, it's hard to bea full figured runway model because your thighs rub togetherand people don't realize that. [laughter] female speaker: thatis a problem. charlot duboc: and didyou feel emotional? male speaker: yeah, i did. i did. i'll cry later.

charlot duboc: but what-- [interposing voices] male speaker: wait until it justbecomes fashion, not full figured, not, you know, regularfigured, just fashion. charlot duboc: after a raucousstart to the week, i went to find out a bit aboutthe shopping options for these women. so we headed to a sample saleorganized by the fashion week. what's this?

curves in the citysample sale. oh. my god. so it's like "sex in the city,"but not at all like "sex in the city." i don't know if i'm going tobe the only empty figured person there. hi. male speaker: good morning. charlot duboc: this way isfor the sample sale?

male speaker: yes, it is. female speaker: yes. charlot duboc: thank you. charlot duboc: over there'sbrenda [inaudible] she's the organizer forthe whole thing. we've heard she's a bit of aforce to be reckoned with. i'm charlot. female speaker: charlot,finally i got a chance to meet you.

charlot duboc: i wanted you toshow us your favorite store. female speaker: oh. it's going to be hard to narrowthat down, but i think i know just the person. charlot duboc: come on, then. female speaker: come on. let's go shopping. this is the layer patch leatherdress, which she has. this is the royal fishtaildress, which she has.

this is the stormy mesh dress,which is fabulous. it could be worn in thesummertime and wintertime, which she has. female speaker: you just can'tget this type of fashion in those sizes so readilyavailable. with her, you just go onlineand it's there. female speaker: oh, anythingwith ruffles, flowers, that's all me right there. oh, this is beautiful!

female speaker: wearyour curves. love your curves. show your curves. female speaker: i wrote thisbook, "stop dieting now." it really becomes the focus of yourlife when you're trying to lose weight all the time. diets create anorexicthinking. and if you talk to someone who'shad anorexia and you talk to someone who is dieting,the way they talk

about food is very similar. the diet industry needsyou to fail. but i also get a lotof backlash. charlot duboc: what are thesort of negative things do people say? female speaker: everything fromjust repeating the same diet paradigm of like, well,it's just calories in, calories out. about you don't--

you know, all that. to, you know, you shouldgo die, you know. so, yeah. it's pretty crazy. female speaker: right now whatyou're looking at is our true sheroes, plus size,curvy comic book. charlot duboc: are you here? female speaker: and i'm here. charlot duboc: that's you?

what are your super powers? female speaker: my superpower is i get my powers from the sun. she gets hers from thegamma-ray bursts. then you have one with thestrength of 1,000 men. that's pretty muchwhat we are. we're not a fat girl movement. we're all about thewoman with curves. that's just who we are.

charlot duboc: tell uswhat you've got on. it's really cute. female speaker: ok. this is body jewelry. i don't know exactlywhat it is. charlot duboc: so you're notsupposed to wear it with nothing else? female speaker: oh, my god. we're feeling fabulous.

no, you always have an outfitunder there, especially if you're under 21. but if you're over 21 andmarried like me and do it, it'll be just fine. rock it! i say, rock it! i could tell you howyou grow your tits. you and i can go togetherbecause i need to lift mine up, suck it out there.

they're going to suckit out of me. put it in you. female speaker: don't hate'cause i just ate. charlot duboc: we're goingto the world's largest fitness class. it's called walking curves. i kind of didn'tdress properly. but i'm going to do my best. charlot duboc: whatis your aim here?

you don't want to loseyour curves. female speaker: peoplehave a misconception about what health is. you know, just because you'rea person of a certain size, they equate that tobeing unhealthy. but that's a misnomer. because a person that'sa smaller size could be unhealthy. but because of the waythey look, you think

that they're healthy. we got to help each otheralong the journey. female speaker: solet's do it! female speaker: woo hoo! walking curves! male speaker: so whatwe're going to do is called the wobble. have y'all heardof the wobble? [screaming and cheering]

male speaker: oh, ok. the wobble. female speaker: i just want tothank you all for coming to walking curves national debut. we might be a small group,baby, but we pack a mighty punch. charlot duboc: considering 78%of americans don't meet the basic recommended activitylevel, it was encouraging to see that such an eventwas part of the

fashion week schedule. but just a stone throw acrosstown, nothing tastes as good as being thin feels. we headed to new york's high-endshopping district to try and get an idea of how sizeis perceived among the city's most discerningfashion consumers. do you think stores likechanel or any high-end boutique should be stockingabove a size 12? female speaker: i can't believei'm saying this, but i

don't think so. female speaker: i think thatpeople who are into high fashion are very consciousof the way they look. and part of the way they lookdictates how much they weigh. female speaker: i don't know. it's harder to make somethingfashionable if it's really large. female speaker: there are enoughsecluded stores who only exclusively sellover size 14.

female speaker: it justdepends on the person. if you see a size 22 woman, youknow, slumping around in a big, you know, potato sack, shemight not be attractive. but if you see her in abeautiful dress with lots of confidence, i think that's justas beautiful and fabulous as a skinny girl. charlot duboc: if you went tobed tonight, woke up tomorrow, and you're a size 22,what would you do? female speaker: ooh.

i think i'd go to the gym. female speaker: i would probablygo on an immediate diet because i wouldfeel awful. i wouldn't leave my houseuntil i lost 100 pounds. female speaker: i would probablystart balling. that sounds terrible. but i'm actually on myway to go shopping. and i do know that if i goshopping and i've just eaten, i don't feel as good when i'mtrying on the clothes.

just because everyone gets,like, a little natural pooch after they eat. you know, it's totallynatural. female speaker: so i thinkthey'd be wasting their time. i think they should dopetite departments. that's where it's atfor high fashion. charlot duboc: dispute thegeneral feeling that plus sized fashion should be kept inthe back of the high street department stores, there arenumerous independent boutiques

popping up around the city suchas redress, a plus sized vintage store in brooklynwhere i met glen. glen, where are we? what is this place? glen: well, you're at redressnew york city. it's a vintage and resaleclothing shop for plus size folks. the teggings arereally popular. people come specificallyfor it.

people will follow us onfacebook or twitter, come in town from, like,north carolina. and be like, whereare the teggings? because it's like a tightand legging hybrid. they're one size fits all, whichwe do not say lightly. we're not the kind of shopthat's going to be like, one size fits all. because that would make someonefeel really crappy if we're like, one size fits alland it didn't fit me.

i'd be, like, man,that's not right. that says one size fits alland it doesn't fit me. your store sucks. but these-- i don't know what thisis made out of. it's some magic material. it's super comfortable. it doesn't dig into you. these little pins are $1 here.

and people buy them. and they say things like,there's no wrong way to have a body, back fat is thenew cleavage. my background is in queer,radical, sex positivity. and so that's my answer to how ilearned to know that it's ok to have any kind ofbody and feel hot. but it's definitely a journey. you got to work a littlebit to get the party. charlot duboc: it seemedappropriate that the finale

fashion show would be held inthe outsized, overstimulating phenomenon that istimes square. i got the feeling that what theevent lacked in subtlety would be made up for in pureentertainment value. so we're going to go and seewhat's going on backstage because that's probably whereall the action is. female speaker: we're backstageat full figured fashion week and we'regetting ready to go. i got my ipod so i canget my music going.

and we're ready tohit the runway. we're ready to go. yes. female speaker: couldyou do me a favor? you could do your hair back likethat when you're walking down the runway. female speaker: sure. female speaker: it takes a lotfor a woman to be able to hold this and be confident with it.

and i love it. i just love my curves. i love how they move. i wouldn't wish tobe any other way. female speaker: this group ofpeople, all these designers, were shunned by mercedesbenz fashion week. and they don't think we'rereal designers. and i think they don't thinkwe're real women. and we are real women who aredeserving of fashion.

we are deserving of couture. and it's a mission of mine tokeep pushing the envelope until we can get intoone of those shows. because we need tobe represented. female speaker: we'regoing to be doing pirouettes and turning. and doing all sorts of things. female speaker: we haveabout eight minutes until the show starts.

everyone's goinga little crazy. i'm sure that most ofthe models have butterflies just like i do. female speaker: so, areyou ready for fashion? female speaker: i said, areyou ready for fashion? charlot duboc: i've never seenfull figured women presented in this way or movein that way. female speaker: it'sovehwhelming. what it is is that we're notused to seeing that.

like, women being so confidentabout their size and embracing it, and loving it, and out therewith clothing that you would never thinkto see them in. it is emotional. charlot duboc: itis, isn't it? female speaker: and icry at everything. i have to tell you mymom was a big woman. and her two favorite wordswas poly and ester. [cheering and laughter]

female speaker: y'allknow about that. and to see the fashion today,it's ridiculous. i mean, one sleeved dresses,sequins, it's just so much beautiful fashionto choose from. and we're blessed tohave it today. you guys looks beautiful. please give a big hand andapplause for yourselves for being here. female speaker: they get excitedwhen you're excited.

i'm not excited. why are you in my face? female speaker: sergeantrunway, here. charlot duboc: i'm no strangerto the bi-annual fashion week rip tour of the bigfour, london, new york, paris, and milan. there can be nothing so dullas watching cadaverous, androgynous-looking models walkpast you in clothes and only just make it backup the runway alive.

the atmosphere at full figuredfashion week was brimming with a sense of triumph and unity-- nothing short oflife affirming. it was very much a case of thegirls wearing the clothes rather than the clotheswearing them. as a result, i nearly forgot tolook at the clothes, some of which were outlandish, othersfrankly quite ugly. but the girls rockedevery last piece. what are you doinghere tonight?

male speaker: i'm here to seebeautiful full figured women. charlot duboc: that'sso great. so you're a fan of thefuller figured lady? male speaker: i am. i am. it's all, like, shape andproportion really. and i like curves and voluptuouswomen, really. and i'm here to hopefully getsome phone numbers and meet some new chicks.

female speaker: we're showingwomen that are classy. woman that love their bodies. women that are confident. and we're showing womenthat are fashionable. and they will struttheir stuff. they show what they got to showand they have attitude. and they respect themselves. and absolutely, we need toshowcase that in the us and around the world.

men need to understand that weare a whole lot of women looking for a wholelot of man. male speaker: there were somethat shouldn't have been in high heels. and there were some that i wouldhave rather seen in just high heels, just by theirself, high heels and birthday suits. but, you know, 12 andup, light skin, long hair, don't care.

that's how we getting it. charlot duboc: it'sall finished. and i have been honestlyoverwhelmed. because i've never seen women,full figured women, presented in that way, celebrated in thatway, moving in that way to the extent that i feel likeif i woke up tomorrow and i was a size 16, 20, or 22,i'd be like, let's go. and that is amazing. and i just think if the restof the world were affected

like i was, then thingswould improve. and i just think everyone'sgot it wrong. everyone's had it sowrong for so long. and, i mean, hell. these women are hot. charlot duboc: to top it alloff, we were invited on a celebratory cruise aroundmanhattan island called curves at sea. female speaker: good evening.

would you guys stop rockingin the boat, please. full figured fashion weekstarted sort of like a little dream of mine. i went to my first fashionevent and i sat there. and i said, something'snot right about this. there had to be other curvygirls in the world such as myself who want to go to fashionweek and be able to see the fashions come alivevia curvy models. and they want to buy.

because you want toknow something? we have an incredible amountof power through our spending dollars. what do you say? so i'm sitting there. and i'm like, you know what? i need to do somethingabout this. i am going to create my ownfull figured fashion week. and guess what?

the rest is freaking history. so put your hands togetherfor ms. shonda freeman. shonda: thank you. thank you all so much. i just wanted to say that forme, gwen came to me at a time in my life-- glen: oh, lord jesus. shonda: i'm sorry. i just lost my mom.

and [inaudible] understand, it's notabout fashion. it is about respect,inspiration, and all of us empowering each other. i feel like full figured fashionweek is a sisterhood. and just god bless all of you. female speaker: yes, he is. shonda: and keep you safe. and always a lady first.

thank you. female speaker: repeatafter me. size! all: size! female speaker: doesn'tbury our! all: doesn't bury our! female speaker: our beauty! all: our beauty! give yourselves a thundering,thunder,

thunderous round of applause. female speaker: love andkisses to you all. enjoy yourself. and have a blessed, blessedfull figured fashion week. charlot duboc: as shonda said,full figured fashion week was about much more thanjust fashion. i've been welcomed into thebosom of what felt more like a sisterhood than afashion crowd. first, no one's denying thatit's everybody's right to feel

and look good, the question ofsize and health remains a massively divisive topicin western society. but at that moment, on thatboat, at one of the best fashion parties i've ever beento, i felt pretty convinced that bigger is definitelybetter. female speaker: a bigcake for a big girl. fab, full figured is in.