Vogue Russia features ‘plus size’ model on the cover in a first for the magazine

The latest edition of Vogue Russia has featured a “plus size” model on its cover for the first time.

The November issue of Russian Vogue shows Dutch model Jill Kortleve posing nude under a black coat. The cover was announced on the magazine’s Instagram page, with a caption introducing Kortleve as “a body positive model [...], who proves that beauty does not and cannot have a size.”

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Kortleve rose to fame in Alexander McQueen’s 2019 Spring/Summer show and has since featured on catwalks and campaigns for brands such as Michael Kors, Fendi, Valentino, and Kate Spade. In 2020, she became the first “plus size” model in 10 years to walk the Chanel runway during Paris Fashion Week.

Kortlev’s Vogue portrait is emblazoned with the words “standards”, “money”, “new ethics”, “the other side”, and “modelling business” which give a sneak peak at the new trends within the industry discussed in the issue.

Reactions on social media have been largely positive, praising the new direction as influencer @tatyanacosmos commented on the post: “Lord, I love the new Vogue!”

However, many users voiced their concerns that what the fashion industry labels as “plus-size” is, in fact, a regular size. “How is this a plus size? This is just a regular, beautiful body,” comments one user. “The fashion industry has imposed on us that an ordinary beautiful female body is a plus size,” added another. Body positive activist @milliyollie joined the conversation and shared a similarly divided opinion: “1: I hate the modelling industry’s “plus size”, which is actually a regular size,” she wrote. “2: But I love the ‘new ethics’ of the cover.”