We can all agree that Lara Stone is one of the sexiest high fashion models out there, but her curves–the ones which in spite of industry standards helped make her career–were at times a little too bangin’ for designers to handle, particularly while she was pregnant.
Plenty of models have been able to book jobs in the early months of their pregnancy. Miranda Kerr, Doutzen Kroes, Gisele Bunchen–even Jourdan Dunn got work well into her third trimester (who could forget her epic appearance on Jean Paul Gaultier‘s catwalk for his Spring 2010 collection?). But this was not so for Lara Stone, who when just three months along was cancelled at the last minute for a shoot she’d showed up for. “I was really upset at the time,” she told the Evening Standard. “I hadn’t yet had my three-month scan and I felt really vulnerable about everything. I no longer had a job. That was it—I had to just stop everything that I knew; the way my life was.”
And retuning to work post-pregnancy wasn’t a walk in the park either. “Once the baby was out, I was like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ My arms don’t fit into my sweaters. I couldn’t get my jeans over my knees. I couldn’t find a bra that fitted me. I had body dysmorphia but the wrong way round.” Castings were more of a hassle, she admits. “I’ve had a few meetings because when they hear pregnancy they freak out a bit,” she says, “so they need to see if I fit in their clothes.” She says that people would be eager to reassure her that she looked great, but Stone, a modeling pro, can spot an insincere compliment from a mile away. “Everyone’s so nice to you all the time. And it’s like, ‘Ugh,’ you don’t have to be. It feels quite alienating because it’s like everyone’s just lying to you. Because everyone’s like, ‘You’re great!’ And you’re, ‘Well, obviously I’m not.’”
We happen to think Lara’s one of the sexiest models out there, and although plenty of designers and publications are paying lip service to body diversity, the fact that an already-slim girl like Lara Stone had difficulty booking jobs after gaining just a little pregnancy weight is a clear indication that we have far to go.
