Anna Scholz Blog

The studio photo shoot for the campaign imagery for Anna’s Autumn-Winter 2013 White Label collection was a big success earlier this week.

We don’t want to reveal too much, but here are just a few tantalising photos [courtesy of our intern, Anne] with more to come…(can’t promise too many more of Frida though– she’s expensive and very choosy about how her image is used!).

Plus size American model Jennie Runk says she was completely surprised that her H&M beachwear campaign would cause such a stir. Since she had never really considered how she looks in a bikini, she was surprised that so many people were pleased to see her curvy figure in the campaign photos.

In fact, says Runk, some women have confessed that her photos have “inspired them to try on a bikini for the first time in years. This is exactly the kind of thing I’ve always wanted to accomplish, showing women that it’s OK to be confident even if you’re not the popular notion of ‘perfect’.”

Runk has decided to use the attention she has received “as an opportunity to make the world a little nicer by promoting confidence.” She especially hopes to reach out to teenage girls as she had an awkward adolescence and feels it is a difficult period to navigate. “When our bodies change and we all start to look totally different, we simultaneously begin feeling pressured to look exactly the same,” says Runk. “This is an impossible goal to achieve and I wish I had known that when I was 13.”

Having finally survived her teenage years, “I feel compelled to show girls who are going through the same thing that it’s acceptable to be different,” Runk explains. “You will grow out of this awkwardness fabulously. Just focus on being the best possible version of yourself and quit worrying about your thighs, there’s nothing wrong with them. … After all, I never thought of myself as model material but then I was discovered at a Petsmart, while volunteering in my too-short sweat pants no less.”

Runk acknowledges that “there are also negative connotations associated with thinness. Just as bigger women get called fat or chunky, thin women get called gangly or bony. …There’s no need to glamorise one body type and slam another,” she says. “We need to stop this absurd hatred towards bodies for being different sizes. It doesn’t help anyone.”

When she was first discovered, Runk was given the option to lose weight and try to maintain a US size four (a UK six or eight), or to gain a little to be a US size 10 (a UK 12 or 14) – and start a career as a plus-size model. Since she knew her body was never meant to be a size four, she decided to go with plus modelling.

The self-professed “quiet type who reads books, plays video games, and might be a little too obsessed with her cat” seems to be doing pretty well so far!

Read Runk’s full self-penned article from BBC New Magazine.

“This was at an art auction for my husband’s charity,” Kirsten wrote us.  “I loved wearing the kimono contrast dress and got lots of compliments!”

We would like to encourage anyone who loves the Anna Scholz brand to nominate it for a chance to win in the British Plus Size Awards 2013.

“[W]e feel the time has come to reward outstanding service and inspirational people,” says the event’s website. “We want to recognise those who have broken barriers in the plus size industry, an industry that is being utilised by more and more people.”

HURRY: Click here to enter your nominations — the poll closes at midday on May 31st, 2013.

The awards ceremony will take place on 23rd November 2013 at the Grand Connaught Rooms in Central London and will be in conjunction with the Miss Plus Size International 2013 beauty pageant.

Sexy, curvy model Kate Upton has landed the cover and a full spread for June’s issue of American Vogue! We can’t wait to see it…

Inside, Kate talks about some of the difficulties she’s faced in the modelling industry as a curvier model. “The things that they’re rejecting are things that I can’t change,” she tells interviewer Lizzie Widdicombe. “I can’t change my bra size. They’re natural! I can work out and I can stay healthy and motivated, but I can’t change some things. I really just live my life. I love my body. It’s what God gave me! I feel confident with myself, and if that inspires other women to feel confident with their bodies, great.”

Read the full interview and see more photos at Vogue.com

Thousands of women have responded to a plus-size model casting call run by agency Models1 in partnership with the UK-based plus magazine, SLiNK. In fact, SLiNK’s editor, Rivkie Baum, says the volume of plus entries far exceeds those of the straight-size version of the competition. She feels this is a sign that women are rejecting previous beauty norms.

#MakeMeaModels1Curvy entrants

“Women of every size are getting more confident,” Baum said to Huffington Post UK. “They want to flaunt their curves rather than strive for a single body shape.” She also believes that the opportunities for a successful career as a plus model are getting better and better. “Curvy models are booking bigger and better campaigns all the time,” says Baum.

#MakeMeaModels1Curvy entrants

The competition has been deliberately run through social media. Entrants must upload a ’selfie’ to Instagram using the hashtag #MakeMeaModels1Curvy. “It can be really intimidating to go into an agency,” Baum told HuffPost UK. “This comp allowed women to take their shots in their own time and environment, and be comfortable.”

The fun and multi-faceted blog Domestic Sluttery has nominated Anna’s coral lace tunic dress as one of its favourite “wedding guest looks without the fussy florals.”

“Wedding season is fast approaching, and I know it’s a time that many plus size women dread. Finding clothes appropriate for formal occasions without resorting to florals is difficult – not everyone wants to wear massive blooms all Summer long, and for every nice floral there are twenty frumpy, old-fashioned ones… . If you prefer simple shapes, block colours and a touch of texture,” this is the go-to occasionwear dress for you.

They love the sizzling coral color, and suggest adding your own belt if you want to nip in the dress’s easy tunic shape.

This video put together by the StyleLikeU blog is fun and inspiring.  It also features popular plus-size blogger Nadia Aboulhosn, who has great style.

This video is a great antidote to the controversial comments of Samantha Brick, the writer who recently caused a stir by claiming that any woman who wants to be happy needs to be on a constant diet. Brick also recently appeared on “This Morning,” sparring with positive body image campaigner Natasha Devon.

Lisa Riley looked gorgeous in Anna’s citron lace gathered border dress, which she wore to a family wedding!

Check out this video interview with the Japanese artist, Konishi Shinji, who creates animal wigs/hats out of real hair. The video is part of the “Behind the Seams” series from Vice.com.