An urge to XL

A hundred-and-sixty people, most of them dressed in black, convene on the eighth floor of the St Regis Hotel in Mumbai with one goal in mind: to walk the ramp at Lakm Fashion Week (LFW). Only, they don't seem like typical models at first glance. The women have generous waistlines; the men, prosperous paunches camouflaged by loose T-shirts. As the women totter on high heels and the men flex their biceps, the conversation veers towards food. "Food is the reason we are here, so they should serve us lunch at least," says a hungry female model. "Abbe, call us healthy, not fat," says a male model to a newfound friend backstage.

The politically correct moniker for these folks is 'plus-size'. They are a small but growing community of aspiring models who are proud of their curves and ready to take on the bodyshamers. Their idols are plus-size supermodels like Ashley Graham, Tara Lynn and Tess Holiday. Shilpi Nambiar, who brought her three-year-old child in a pram to the LFW auditions, didn't make the cut; but she's glad that the popular fashion show is finally opening its doors to plus-size models, even if it doesn't see them walk alongside the regular models. "My husband says 'Yahaan [in India] mote mote hi hote hain and it will take time'," she says. "But our time has come."

The winners of the auditions

Indeed, and it's about time. India currently has the third-largest population of full-bodied individuals in the world, after the United States and China, with an estimated 41 million of the population identified as plus-size. Says runway director Lubna Adams: "Designers do make clothes for all shapes and sizes. It's just that they are scared to put them up on the ramp or use them in shoots because the perception is that fashion has to be a small size. How far can you run from reality? If you don't expand your market and reach out to people, you will never be a big business industry."

According to management consultancy firm Technopak, the plus-size clothing market in India is valued at around Rs 110 billion, and is only going to get bigger. Manish Aziz, the business head of aLL, says that while the plus-size clothing market is at a nascent stage and accounts for only 4 per cent of the overall clothing industry in India, it is expected to grow at the rate of 25 per cent a year. Plus-size brands are now more common than ever before, both in stores and online. There's Xmex, Revolution and aLL, all of which cater to the fuller-bodied. Even mainstream fashion outlets have collections for the plus-size: Westside has Gia Curves and Pantaloons, Alto Moda. There are portals devoted to the community such as Pluss, LastInch, Calae and Mustard.

The presence of so many brands has not only given Neha Parulkar, 24, the opportunity to dress up as trendily as her peers at her workplace (Viacom 18's Voot), but has also given her the opportunity to be a model. Parulkar has posed for aLL's e-commerce campaign and will be paid in gift vouchers worth Rs 15,000 for her work. "The stereotype that all good-looking females are thin needs to be broken," says Parulkar. "A plus-size girl can be as graceful. You just have to embrace your body and carry yourself well."

Aspiring plus-size models want it to be known that skinny doesn't necessarily mean fit and beautiful. The movement has gained traction, especially on social media where Bollywood actors such as Sonakshi Sinha and Zareen Khan have been vocal advocates of the body positive movement. Sana Murab Saini, 42, a Delhi-based fashion designer and event organiser, is spearheading the cause of aspiring plus-size models. In 2014, she set up a Facebook page, Plus Size Models India, which currently represents 100 plus-size models, most of them women. Now, Saini is looking to bring Miss Top of the World, an international plus-size beauty pageant, to India later next year. "There are definitely requirements for plus-size models, especially [in] apparel advertising, but there aren't many serious takers," says Saini, who is also finishing an e-book, 21 Flavours of Confidence with Curves, which offers tips on grooming.

The lack of professional models is apparent at the auditions. Rajiv Bhasin, 26, an actor, is an exception. Having done a campaign for aLL and earned Rs 25,000 in the process, his story suggests that size does matter after all. Such assignments also enable Payal Soni, a 21-year-old working in real estate, to aspire to be a professional plus-size model, much like her inspiration, British-Indian model Bishamber Das. "Many people used to tell me, 'You're charming; just lose weight and you'll be more beautiful'," says Soni, who wears a double XL. "But I'm happy and healthy. Being curvy can also be beautiful."

Reflecting the diversity of people and breaking the size barrier is important for Jaspreet Chandok, vice-president and head, fashion, IMG Reliance, who is bringing the plus-size show at LFW. But, for the big and beautiful movement to take hold in India, it's the standards of beauty that need a makeover. A fashion show at which plus-size models are on equal footing with the regular ones shouldn't be a pipe dream. "We [were] told if you are overweight, modelling is not a thing you can do," says Tanvi Gita Ravishankar, a stylist whose donning of a t-shirt that said "Pataka" made an impression with the five judges. "I love eating." Nothing can stop Tanvi from catwalking her way to fashion glory.

Follow the writer on Twitter @suhani84