Prada goes up a size

Prada last week sent a curvy, busty model down the catwalk, seen as a response to the ongoing Size Zero debate. The collection, inspired by the German art nouveau movement favoured more rounded looks, and Miucca Prada wasn’t shy to use a ‘bigger’ girl to showcase her new collection.

Industry insiders are tipping that other international designers may follow Prada's lead. Pressure on design houses remains unrelenting to use more realistic body images to promote fashion.

The model in the Prada show, Dutchwoman Lara Stone, 23, went bra-less in a top designed to show off her 86cm chest, but was swiftly followed on the runway by thinner models who appeared as part of the same show.

Last week an enormous billboard by fashion label Nolita showing a harrowing image of an anorexic woman was posted all over the streets of Milan. The controversial billboard features an ill naked woman, which Milan Fashion Week organisers said is in line with their own campaign against eating disorders.