Plus-Size Model Robin Lawley Warns About Dangerous Thigh-Gap Trend

This photograph of Lawley inspired bullying on a Facebook page. (Courtesy Robyn Lawley on Daily Beast)
This photograph of Lawley inspired bullying on a Facebook page. (Courtesy Robyn Lawley on Daily Beast)

This Aussie plus-size model has embraced her stunningly curvaceous figure after spending much of her adolescence obsessing over her weight and has now publicly slammed the thigh-gap culture.

The team here have been fans of the statuesque 6’2 model ever since she covered Vogue Italia’s ‘Real Beauties’ issue and we’re not the only ones. The 24-year-old has been an inspiration to the plus-size models here at the agency too, and it’s easy to see why. Robin is a US size 12 (UK size 16) and was the first plus-size model to be hired by Ralph Lauren EVER!

“The sad reality is that I’ve known about the “thigh gap” since I was 12—and there is nothing about this trend that’s new to me,” she wrote in a column for The Daily Beast.

“The models’ legs would never come close to touching, even as they stomped down the runway,” she said.

“Staring down at my own thighs, I can safely say that has never been the case for me.

“Why would I want to starve and weaken my natural body size? I’m not saying women who have it naturally are unattractive. But I would have to change my entire frame just to achieve something that seems so trivial.”

The model’s photo actually appeared on a thigh-gap ‘thinspiration’ Facebook page which attracted horrible comments calling her ‘hefty’ and a ‘pig’.

She hit back at the criticisms and wrote on the Facebook post: ‘You sit behind a computer screen objectifying my body, judging it and insulting it, without even knowing it.’

Plus-size models Whitney Thompson and Kate Upton have also been insulted on their size and referred to as ‘fat cows’ recently. These models have all defended their figures and rightly so – we think they all look stunning!

Robin promotes strength and fitness over skinniness: “I want my thighs to be bigger and stronger. I want to run faster and swim longer.”

What do you think about the current thinspiration thigh-gap culture? Should women be striving to achieve a gap between their thighs or do you think it looks abnormal?