Saffi's Curve power: Meet the plus-sized model on a mission to reshape the fashion industry
By LYDIA SLATER
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Who are you calling too big? Lydia Slater meets the larger than life supermodel who is determined to make curves mainstream
Saffi wears bra, boux avenue. earrings and ring, vivienne westwood. cuff, boticca
Saffi Karina towers over her diminutive entourage like a thoroughbred racehorse surrounded by jockeys. Her skin, eyes and hair are the colour of chestnut honey, and she carries off her
challenging outfit of a totally sleeveless and semi-backless black silk shirt, teamed with skin-tight jeans, with the aplomb of the professional model. She is unarguably beautiful. And, to civilian eyes, she is also very slim – 5ft 10in and a toned size 12, with finely muscled arms, a neat waist and a
perfectly flat stomach.
challenging outfit of a totally sleeveless and semi-backless black silk shirt, teamed with skin-tight jeans, with the aplomb of the professional model. She is unarguably beautiful. And, to civilian eyes, she is also very slim – 5ft 10in and a toned size 12, with finely muscled arms, a neat waist and a
perfectly flat stomach.
But to the fashion industry, Saffi’s vital statistics make her a plus-size anomaly. Four years ago, after her then agency told her she was too big and needed to lose weight, she walked away from her
'Plus size is more talked about now. As a nation we’re becoming bigger, so it’s fulfilling a need'
modelling career – for good, as she thought. ‘I knew I was healthy,’ she says. ‘I never had an issue with my weight. I exercised and I ate well, so I knew that if I lost weight, I wouldn’t be my natural body shape. I didn’t want to succumb to some fad diet.’
Today, though, her career is flying higher than ever. And her mission is to empower other women to be as accepting of their natural physiques as she is.
We have met because she is the new face (or rather, body) of Boux Avenue lingerie, the company founded by Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Theo Paphitis, which sells pretty underwear for all sizes, from a 30A up to a 40H. Modelling for the campaign, Saffi looks like a 1950s pin-up, her old-fashioned hourglass figure (she’s a 32E, 29, 41) poured into retro-glam silk, satin and lace underwear. ‘I thought it was lovely,’ she tells me. ‘The fit was really nice, it was quite flattering, sexy but comfortable, and affordable too.’
The admiration is mutual. ‘Everyone at Boux Avenue loved working with Saffi, and she beautifully enforces our inclusive size proposition, which is something we are very proud of,’ says Theo Paphitis.
Saffi wears basque and briefs, Boux Avenue. jacket, Chanel, from Atelier-Mayer. Hold-ups, Fogal. necklace, Atelier-Mayer. ring, Smith/Grey. snake ring, Daisy Knights
Of course, bigger models have long been preferred by lingerie brands – a bra looks better on a model with larger breasts – but now mainstream fashion brands are also clamouring for Saffi’s services. She is represented by Storm, Kate Moss’s agency, and has appeared in campaigns for Speedo swimwear, Boots No 7, John Lewis and, memorably, in the Littlewoods Nice Boots Camp television commercial with Coleen Rooney. ‘The opportunities that are open to me since I’ve become curvier have been amazing,’ she says. ‘And it will only get better. I’m proud of being curvy, and other women who are naturally curvy should be proud of that as well.’
Saffi, 27, is in the vanguard of a new movement in modelling that aims to celebrate the fuller-figured woman as well as her skinnier sister. ‘I think there’s more focus on plus size. It’s more talked about now,’ says Storm’s Paula Karaiskos. ‘As a nation we’re becoming a bit bigger so plus size is fulfilling a need. And brands are looking for personalities. The whole industry has become multi-platform – you need someone who can engage across many levels, who has got something to say and is interesting.’ And any plus-size model has a story to tell. ‘You are the rarity, you are the exception to the rule in the modelling industry,’ says Karaiskos.
'Curve Project is all about getting women to embrace the skin they’re in'
It seems the tide may be turning. Fashion is adopting a more voluptuous silhouette – think Victoria Beckham’s oversized dress and the ubiquity of the new ‘mom jean’. Australian supermodel Robyn Lawley (size 16), one of the first plus-size models to make the cover of Vogue, was the face of Ralph Lauren last year. This year, H&M used Jennie Runk, also a size 16, to model swimwear. And equalities minister Jo Swinson recently called for plus size and petite mannequins to be introduced in an effort to combat eating disorders; the average British woman is a size 16 and 5ft 4in tall, but fashions are still displayed in shops on 5ft 10in, size 10 mannequins.
That, it seems, may be a costly error: earlier this year, photographs of the ‘normal-sized’ (dress-size 12) mannequins on display in a Swedish department store generated over a million ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ online, giving a giant boost to the store’s popularity. ‘It’s important for stores to showcase their brands on mannequins that are representative of their customer,’ agrees Saffi. ‘Brands should be open to different types of consumer – they’re the ones buying the product.’
Bra, Boux Avenue. skirt, Victoria Beckham. earrings, Vivienne Westwood. cuffs, Boticca. shoes, Christian Louboutin
Interestingly, Robyn Lawley recently spoke out against her position as plus-size poster girl, arguing that it was offensive to slim women. ‘Curves don’t epitomise a woman. Saying “skinny is ugly” should be no more acceptable than saying fat is. I find all this stuff a very controlling and effective way of making women obsess over their weight,’ she told a newspaper.
Saffi disagrees. ‘I think it’s great that curves are celebrated because it’s a new concept,’ she says. ‘There was a time not so long ago when model agencies didn’t have curve divisions. It’s a refreshing change that curves are at the forefront of fashion. But I have never said that it’s bad to be skinny or big. My ethos is that as long as you’re healthy, that’s all that matters. Some women are naturally slim, and some aren’t. Instead of struggling to be something you’re not, be happy with what you are.’
Saffi’s robust attitude probably owes something to the fact that she has never fitted comfortably into any pigeonhole. She owes her striking looks to her mixed-race background – her father, who works for Singapore Airlines, is Irish/Spanish, her mother is Cuban, Hawaiian and Filipina. Growing up, she says, she rarely saw women in the media who looked anything like her. ‘There weren’t many role models for me to identify with.
‘But the advantage of being a mixed model is that you don’t get stereotyped,’ she says. ‘People think I’m Spanish – I can even look Asian with my hair straightened. If anything, it has opened even more doors for me.’
Born and brought up in South London, where she still lives, Saffi’s original dream was to be on the other side of the camera. ‘I wanted to be a photographer or an interior designer,’ she says. The idea of modelling never occurred to her: ‘I wasn’t the tallest at school – I was quite a late developer.’
Aged 19, she was studying at London College of Fashion when she was scouted in McDonald’s on Tottenham Court Road; a week later, she was modelling on the catwalk in New York. ‘It was a bit overwhelming,’ she admits. She modelled part-time as a student, then found work as a PA in the City.
Aged 19, she was studying at London College of Fashion when she was scouted in McDonald’s on Tottenham Court Road; a week later, she was modelling on the catwalk in New York. ‘It was a bit overwhelming,’ she admits. She modelled part-time as a student, then found work as a PA in the City.
‘The agency I was signed to asked if I was interested in full-time modelling. I was getting a bit bored of the nine to five,’ she admits. ‘So I said, yeah, why not?’ Shortly afterwards, she was snapped up to be the lead girl in an international commercial for Nokia.
At 22, Saffi was a small size 10. But a year on, she says, her hips grew broader. ‘And hips are bone, they’re never going to get smaller.’ When her agency (which she won’t name) demanded that she go on a diet, she says she was ‘shocked. When someone says you’re not right because you’re too big, it leaves you feeling a bit deflated. It did affect me, it made me question myself. And it gave me an insight into the other side of modelling.’ So she abandoned her modelling career and went back to work full-time in the City.
'There was a time not so long ago when agencies didn't have curve divisions. It's a refreshing change that curves are at the forefront of fashion'
‘But then I thought, “I can’t be the only model in the world who’s been told that they’re too big.” So I Googled “curvy models” and up came loads of info on plus-size modelling, with photos of people such as Candice Huffine and other beautiful women.
I thought, “Wow, it’s a whole new world! Maybe it’s time to go back.”’ Since joining Storm three years ago, she has fronted numerous high- profile campaigns and has become something of a plus-size figurehead. ‘Young girls started writing to me on social media saying that they loved what I did and asking how I got into it. I’d spend hours writing back to them. Then I thought how great it would be to start a workshop where girls who fall above the stereotype size 8 to 10 could explore their modelling potential.’
So Curve Project London was born. Launched earlier this year, it puts on regular masterclasses at a photographic studio just off the King’s Road. Saffi has roped in respected fashion industry colleagues to assist her, including the Lorraine show stylist Sarah Tankel Ellis and catwalk choreographer Les Child. ‘He has choreographed for Karl Lagerfeld, Prada and Dior, so the women that come are in the very best of hands,’ says Saffi.
‘We do their hair, we tell them how to dress for their body shape, we do catwalk training and body-confidence mentoring.’ There are also masterclasses in make-up, posing, and a talk on healthy eating, plus a session with a professional photographer. ‘The whole day is about instilling confidence and getting them to embrace the skin they’re in.’ It costs £299 – a fraction of the day rate she and members of her team can command – but she says that they all see it as a way of giving something back. ‘I make a point of being there for the girls to share my experience and explain how the industry is changing.’
Some of the women who attend have plus-size potential – one has been signed to an agency, while another who already had an agency attended the masterclass to find out what would be expected of her. But many others come simply for a morale boost: one had been battling with depression, another had cancer, and a young mother just wanted some ‘me’ time. ‘When they arrive, they’re quite timid, but by the end they’re working the catwalk, they’re swapping numbers, they’ve really broken out of their shell. It’s so empowering to know you’ve made a difference,’ says Saffi.
Now, ‘I get women tweeting me from India, Tokyo, the US and Italy – there are a lot of curvy women out there! – with requests to launch Curve Project abroad. Going global would be amazing,’ adds Saffi. She also hopes to launch her own lingerie brand one day (watch out, Boux Avenue) and feature in campaigns for mainstream designers who have not yet used plus-size models. ‘Runway shows need to be a reflection of the world we live in,’ she says.
‘Colour, size and age should not matter. Beauty knows no limitations.’ All underwear available from Boux Avenue stores nationwide. bouxavenue.com; curveprojectlondon.com
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