The Paris shows kicked off with organizers saying they would not ban skinny models from the runways and Jean Paul Gaultier weighing into the debate by hiring a 132-kilogram model.

In what seemed more of a nod to front-row guest, the burlesque artiste Dita Von Teese, Gaultier sent out the plus-sized Paris-based American model and actress Velvet d’Amour, 39, in a satin corset and negligee. The rest of his collection was on a “workout” theme, an athletic wear-inspired collection of silk track pants, hooded sweat tops and dresses.

Australian Gemma Ward modeled in the same show on Tuesday, a week after industry gossip whispered that she had missed the Milan shows because she had put on weight and not because she was reading for a third new film project in Los Angeles.

“Gemma’s not a fatty, let me tell you,” said d’Amour afterwards, adding that society should give her more svelte runway colleagues a break.

“If you tell me somebody’s too thin, if you tell me somebody’s too fat, you’re still being prejudiced. The point is diversity,” d’Amour told the Herald.

–From IHT

From the San Francisco Chronicle

At 31, Johanna Dray is breathtakingly beautiful, with shoulder-length black hair and big, dark eyes. When she stands up, however, she reveals what has kept her out of most major fashion magazines and catwalks in Europe, including this month’s Paris fashion shows: a voluptuous figure clad, one recent evening, in chic black pants.

“The fashion industry is still really snobby,” said Dray, who became one of France’s first plus-size models a decade ago, and remains among the country’s most successful. “There are only a handful of designers who have used big women for their shows. It’s still pretty closed.” Full Story »

Last night on the season finale of VH1’s Flava of Love reality show, rapper (and thin man) Flava Flav chose Chandra Davis as his latest love match.

Chandra is a BBW model, London Charles, and has appeared on the cover of several magazines.

Let’s hope this will be the LOVE match both have been searching for.