A Photographer Has Been Charging Extra To Shoot Plus-Size Models

TikTok is not impressed.

TikTok Sixtine Rouyre

by Lydia Spencer-Elliott |
Updated on

From Jill Kortleve, Alva Claire and Precious Lee making history at Versace’s Milan Fashion Week show this year, to the wave of high street and high fashion brands featuring more body diversity in their ad campaigns, the fashion industry has seemingly made massive progress in the representation of plus-sized models.

But photographer William Lords, who has previously worked for Vogue Arabia, has sparked online outrage after setting his rates higher for plus-sized models. Megan Mesveskas, a 24-year-old model and founder of the body diverse agency Model Nexus was allegedly told by Lords’ studio manager that it costs $950 to shoot ‘standard’ models but $1050 for ‘plus-sized/curve’.

Furious at the weight-based discrimination, Mesveskas took to TikTok to vent her frustration. ‘Yep, you’re reading that right,’ she said in the video. ‘A curve or a plus-sized model is going to cost an extra hundred dollars.’

Mesveskas TikTok was then quoted by one of her models, Sixtine Rouyre, who has more than 600,000 followers on social media and the dispute began to go viral. ‘This is just one more example of how awful the modelling industry is to literally anyone over a size zero,’ Rouyre said. ‘How does it make sense to charge more because the person standing in front of you, that you’re taking photos of, is bigger?’

‘Plus-sized’ itself is a contentious term, with body positivity campaigners pointing out the disparity between plus-sized models (who are anyone above a size eight) and plus-sized clothes (which usually start at a size 16).

'“Plus-size” is meaningless,' Mesveskas tells Grazia. 'Plus according to who or what? I think these are unfortunate categorisations are made because the world still finds it shocking to see any woman above a size 2 modelling. So it’s a way for the public to rationalise it: “Oh, she’s not a real model she’s a Plus-size model”.

'We don’t require brunette model to identify themselves as such. We don’t ask blue eyed models to sit alone in a category. So, I’d love to know why should all women outside of 2 dress sizes be called “plus” or “curve”?'

'I was completely shocked finding out about the rate differences,' she explains. 'I’ve often seen brands that charge more for clothing for larger sized women, but this was the first time I’ve ever heard of a photographer charging more for “curve” or “plus size” models.'

Since the backlash caused by the exchange, Lords has defended his pricing by saying that shooting plus-sized models requires more work from him to source high-end designer clothes in bigger sizes, however, he has since decided to charge the same price for models of all sizes.

‘I’m a black man in America, and two white women tell me I’m discriminating [against] them?... I’m so hurt by this. Nobody is telling the true story,’ he told the New York Post. ‘$100 is absolutely nothing compared to what I do for these girls.’

Grazia has contacted Lords for comment.

READ MORE: Laura Adlington: 'It's Time To Fix Fashion's Size Inclusivity Problem' As A Plus-Size Woman, I Find It Impossible To Shop Sustainably

READ MORE: The Scientific Reason Why You Should Follow Plus Size Models On Instagram

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