On the surface, size inclusivity improved for the Autumn/Winter 2025 menswear season, but there’s more to the data than meets the eye.
The uptick was mostly thanks to an increase in mid-size models, most of whom have a more muscular build. Experts say the rise in muscle across male body standards is likely due to a cultural shift towards conservatism.
Vogue Business assessed the 59 AW25 menswear shows and presentations using image catalogues published on Vogue Runway, and contacted each brand to verify the findings (brands were given 48 hours to respond). Out of 2,579 looks across Milan and Paris, 94.9 per cent were straight-size (under EU 48), down from 98.3 per cent last season; 4.8 per cent were mid-size (EU 48-54), up from 1.3 per cent last season; while plus-size (EU 56+ or over XL) made up 0.3 per cent of looks, up slightly from 0.2 per cent last season.
Four of the 59 brands (6.8 per cent) included at least one plus-size model, up from three brands (4.6 per cent) last season, though the figure is still smaller than it was for SS24 (six brands or 8.3 per cent) as well as AW23 (eight brands or 11.5 per cent).
Like usual, Milan showed very little signs of size representation: 92.4 per cent of looks were straight-size with 7.4 per cent mid-size and 0.1 per cent plus-size. However, the figures are an improvement on last season when there was no plus-size representation at all and just 1.1 per cent of looks were mid-size.
Magliano, which ranked first in Milan and seventh overall, was the only brand to include a plus-size model in Milan. A handful of brands included some mid-size representation: seven out of 95 looks at Giorgio Armani were mid-size (the brand ranked eighth overall), along with three out of 57 at Zegna and two out of 110 at Emporio Armani. Brunello Cucinelli ranked at the top, crediting the fact all of its samples for the presentation were between EU 48 and EU 52, which straddles straight and mid-size — however, the brand did not give any indication of the size of the models who wore the samples.
In Paris, straight-size looks made up 94.9 per cent of the runways, while mid-size looks accounted for 4.8 per cent (up from 1.4 per cent last season) and plus-size looks totalled 0.3 per cent (relatively similar to last season’s 0.4 per cent and the previous season’s 0.2 per cent).
The highest ranked in Paris was Junya Watanabe, which showed almost half of its looks on mid-size models, many of whom were older. Willy Chavarria and Yohji Yamamoto also showed a large portion of looks on mid-size models (23 per cent and 21.8 per cent, respectively).
LGN Louis Gabriel Nouchi again ranked high, in third place overall but with the highest proportion of plus-size models (9.8 per cent) by a long shot. The only other brands to show any looks on plus-size models were Rick Owens (4 per cent), Magliano (2.9 per cent) and Doublet (2.6 per cent).
“I feel very alone in my choices. It has always been part of our shows from the beginning, but it has never been as important as it is now. Otherwise, no one else would do it,” says Louis Gabriel Nouchi. “It’s part of the brand’s DNA. It adds another layer of meaning to what we create. I want people to feel empowered by the clothes I design, no matter their body.” Nouchi’s show also included Paralympic athletes: the designer created the costumes for the 2024 Paralympic Games, adding that the experience was “life changing”.
Rick Owens was arguably the biggest brand to send a range of sizes down its runway, having ranked fifth last season and sixth this season with a mixture of mid-size and plus-size models.
“Brands shouldn’t have bigger people in the show just to do that. You should have them in the show because it makes sense and you’re genuinely inspired by those people,” says casting director Angus Munro, who has been working with Owens for 17 years, along with Wooyoungmi, Moncler Genius and a number of LVMH brands. Throughout Munro’s career, he’s seen brands go from one extreme to another. “This attitude is rife in the business. I see designers putting plus-size models down the runway, but what is the number that’s not tokenistic? It certainly isn’t 0.3 per cent. I did not start out in this business to be a guardian angel, but it’s laughable and it really bothers me.”
The evolution of male body standards
When asked about the current state of size inclusivity in menswear, Nouchi says: “Maybe people want to return to a full fantasy of what fashion once was, because times are so hard that fashion needs to be purely a dream, not an ode to reality. Reality isn’t very dreamy right now.”
What’s more interesting is what we consider aspirational and why. In womenswear, body standards are shifting back to a thin-is-in mindset amid the Ozempic boom. Similarly in male body standards, we’re also seeing a shift towards the traditional vision of masculinity, shaped by the rise of conservative ideals. TikTok is rife with content on how to be an “alpha male”, and most of that boils down to being physically and socially dominant.
“Thinness is historically related to white supremacy, so if we see a rise of conservatism we will see a rise of people trying to be as thin as possible. That’s usually the case for women. For men, there’s this narrative that men need to be prepared for war and fitness is really a defence mechanism against perceived threat and fear,” says Dan Hastings-Narayanin, deputy foresight editor at strategic foresight agency The Future Laboratory.
At the same time, post-Covid, there’s more concern around fitness and health. Fitness is also a sign of discipline touted in the manosphere, says Hastings-Narayanin, and a form of social currency today.
As such, Hastings-Narayanin predicts that menswear silhouettes will become more fitted to emphasise muscle tone, and that campaigns are likely to include more shirtless, muscular males. However, he notes that in luxury there is a fine balance. “For luxury, there’s also the question of what happens if men get too muscly — because when you are in those elite spaces, you can have a bit of muscle but too much is considered ‘working class’.”
Munro says brands don’t have to choose between representing real people and still being aspirational. “These sorts of casting choices shouldn’t be sensational — it’s the opposite. It’s about having people all knit together in a row and when you look at them, everyone’s aspirational.”
Proponents of body neutrality would argue that bodies should never have nor be trends. But ultimately, very few brands have the internal motivation to address size inclusivity. “I don’t think that the fashion industry really cares about size inclusivity,” Munro says. “I don’t think they have the motivation to do it unless they feel politically and economically challenged — for example, they may get called out and that will hit the bottom line.”
Munro urges brands to think carefully about the role fashion plays in upholding body standards. “I’m not suggesting fashion is saving the world, but because it’s so front and centre in pop culture — now more than ever because of social media and because the sports stars and musicians are embracing it — we really have to consider what we do. The message is going to kids and young people on their phones, so there’s more of a responsibility on our shoulders now than ever.”
With data collection by Alyshea Wharton and data analysis by Emily Forkan.
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The Vogue Business Spring/Summer 2025 menswear size inclusivity report
