LFW: Mark Fast SS10

The controversy surrounding Canadian designer Mark Fast's London Fashion Week show has given the press a field day with the size zero debate. Fast decided to use size 12 and 14 models at his show on Saturday, ending in a behind-the-scenes row with his stylist, i-D fashion editor Erika Kurihara, walking out. Mark Fast, known for his knitted sculpted mini-dresses reflecting the recent body-conscious trend, used three models of a size larger than the catwalk is used to seeing – Hayley, Laura and Gwyneth – to model his knitwear designs. Kurihara allegedly argued the larger models did not walk 'right' and were not catwalk trained.

Fast had been working with size-12 model Hayley Morley for the LFW photography exhibition, All Walks Beyond the Catwalk. Fast's casting decision was a great one, reported the Guardian subsequently. We do need to see more women who reflect the weight and shape of the rest of us on the catwalk. Their presence genuinely altered my appraisal of the clothes on show, making me consider how I would look in these designs rather than viewing them purely as a reporter. Fast has previously been criticised for producing super-short, super-tight dresses that only the super-thin would feel comfortable in. It was interesting to be shown how wrong that is.

Amanda May, Fast's creative director, yesterday blamed the walkout on 'creative differences' over the use of larger models. 'There was a team change and we are glad we stuck to our vision,' she said.

'The decision to use fuller girls is something we have been talking about. There's an idea that only thin and slender women are able to wear Mark's dresses and he wanted to combat that. We wanted

women to know they didn't have to be a size zero to wear a Mark Fast dress - curvier women can look even better in them.'

Image: Mark Fast SS10