HSG

In November of 2011, we had the great privilege of attending the Curves in Couture fashion show in London. This was a truly groundbreaking and unprecedented event, for it was the first time that professional plus-size models walked a fashion runway for top designers in the British capitol.

Of course, the curviest and most significant model in the show was the gorgeous Sophie Sheppard, who was then coming off of the success of her initial British test shoot and basking in the acclaim of her appearance, in print, in Vogue Italia.

We took the opportunity to arrange a live, face-to-face interview with Miss Sheppard via Angel Sinclair and the rest of the staff of M.O.D., which organized Curves in Couture. It was a distinct pleasure--nay, a thrill--to meet this curvaceous goddess in person and to record her opinions on a host of topics, both professional and personal.

Every fan who has been eager to learn more about this Australian stunner will be delighted with the content of our interview, which also includes comments from Sophie's British agent, the enterprising Anna Shillinglaw, as well as from one of the top British plus-size fashion designers, who makes a surprise appearance in the latter portion of our discussion.

Be prepared: the interview concludes in the most unexpected way imaginable, in a finale that is simultaneously wonderful and horrible, a dream come true and a living nightmare rolled into one.

What might that mean, you ask?

Read on, and find out.

We will post the interview in two parts; the first section today, and the rest (with the surprise appearance by the London designer, and the heart-rending finale) in approximately a week's time.

And now, sit back and enjoy our one-on-one dialogue with one of the most beautiful and personable models in the industry: the stunning Sophie Sheppard.

Walking the Curves in Couture runway, November 2011:

- Click here to read interview

Meredith

I enjoyed reading this interview very much. Sophie comes across as sincere and likable, and remarkably gracious. It was a special pleasure to listen to the audio excerpts. I love her voice, with its distinctive, elegant accent.

Needless to say, my favourite comments from Sophie are her observations about model size. An important exchange comes up during the discussion of Sophie's popular sleeveless image:



It's so gratifying to hear Sophie, someone within the fashion industry, echoing the feelings of so many curvy customers, who are sick to death of false-plus models with thin features being used and padded. Such a practice is completely insulting, as it implies the superiority of skinniness.

If plus-size fashion retailers don't affirm the beauty of full-figured women, no one will. It's their responsibility to do so; and it's also good business practice.

Far from being the curviest girl in campaigns or on the runway, a model who is Sophie's size should be the minimum proportions for plus-size models, and there should be a host of plus-size models bigger than she is.

This is probably my favourite statement in the entire article:


It's so obvious: use size 20+ models to appeal to customers who are size 20+. To use models who are skinnier than the customers buying the clothing is actively offensive, because it implies a client's belief than thinner is better. What a noxious message to send to full-figured women!

I want that statement by Sophie to be framed and a copy sent to every plus-size company: "If you’re a plus-size label promoting size 20 and above, use a size-20-and-above girl."

Kaitlynn

I second what Meredith stated. To hear Sophie affirm that plus-size models should actually be full-figured is extremely encouraging. Her words have an extra credibility because she herself is visibly curvy, as the description states:


I was also relieved to hear that Sophie's agent will not be pressuring her into diminishing herself. This is always a problem in the fashion industry, both at the straight-size and plus-size levels, but it's even more appalling in the plus-size sector, where models should be applauded for being visibly full-figured and encouraged to remain so. Thank goodness at least one agent will be allowing a gorgeous model to retain her curvy figure and not pressuring her into a lesser, faux-plus size:


By the way, one of Sophie's statements is as perfect and concise a definition of both the identity and purpose of a plus-size model as I've ever read anywhere:


Yes! It's such a simple formula, but few clients or agencies understand this point. It's not enough for a plus-size model to be beautiful, if she isn't visibly curvy, and it's not enough for her to be curvy if she isn't aesthetically spectacular. Only when both points are met can plus-size models subvert the media paradigm that falsely equates beauty with emaciation.

Sophie not only understands this, she embodies it.

Lily

I found myself completely in adoration of Sophie by the end of this interview. Her looks are stunning, of course, but she's a joy to read about. It sounds like it would be wonderful to join her for a cup of tea. She's clearly very personable.

And she did bring out the most ravishing descriptions. I love the initial presentation of Sophie as reminding the interviewer of a flower in full bloom:


Then, I found the related later passage, which describes Sophie's perfume, to be even more beautiful:


It must have been a magical experience to enjoy Sophie's company after her stunning appearance at Curves in Couture.

Emily

I was especially taken by this passage in the write-up, which gives the interview its name, Templum Veneris, or Temple of Venus:


There is much truth in this.

In the past, particularly in the Middle Ages, beauty was subordinated to religious concerns and was viewed through the prism of Christianity. Its value was determined by the degree to which it could be made to reinforce the beliefs of the established Church.

In the present -- when politics has become the new religion for much of the populace -- beauty is once again viewed with suspicion, and the value of beauty is determined by the degree to which it can be made the support the dominant ideology. Today, beauty is subordinated to the current political religion's values (those being "diversity," "equality," etc.) just as in the past, beauty was subordinated to Christian values.

This leads to the circumscribing of beauty, the constraint and limitation of beauty.

But Classical beauty -- pagan beauty -- was beauty as pure aesthetics, beauty unconfined and unconstrained. As such, it is subversive of all latter-day moralistic ideologies, religious or political. Thus, I find it exciting to contemplate how, for the evening of Curves in Couture, the Tabernacle in Notting Hill (which was once a Christian and is now a secular edifice) escaped both belief systems and became a temple for the worship of pure beauty, beauty in itself, with Sophie as the admired goddess -- Venus in the flesh.

HSG

At long last, it is a pleasure to release the second, concluding part of our interview with lovely plus-size model Sophie Sheppard.

Whereas the first portion of our write-up presented Sophie the model, covering various aspects of her professional career to date, this section introduces Sophie from a more personal perspective, discussing her interests, her plans for the future, her family, her friends, her school life, and how she really feels about her appearance.

Chocolate, as readers will find, figures as a central motif in this write-up.

The interview is also interrupted, in the most delightful way imaginable, with a surprise appearance by a famous British designer.

In its conclusion, it takes a completely unexpected turn, and ends in an unforgettable manner that careens like a roller coaster from a dizzying high to an abysmal low and then back again.

Without further ado, here it is: the surprising second part of our interview with the stunning Sophie Sheppard.

Modelling Anna Scholz at Curves in Couture:

- Click here to read part 2

Hannah

The second part of the interview is absolutely wonderful! For many readers, I'm sure that Sophie's expressions of open, unapologetic love of food will be an absolute delight:


The most decadent statements about the model's love of self-indulgence are, of course, her enthusiastic affirmations of her love of chocolate. The fact that this led to a gift for her agency in the form of a "massive coffer filled to the brim with chocolate treats of every description" gave the interview a wonderful symmetry. Sophie's pro-chocolate commentary comes with an audio clip, and she puts a great comic spin on it:


Altogether, I especially loved the audio excerpts, which made the interview come alive and gave a real sense of Sophie's witty, endearing personality. She's a treasure.

M. Lopez

I finally had the chance to read the second part of the interview today in full, and enjoyed it immensely. And what a wonderful surprise to see a guest appearance by designer Anna Scholz!

The most important passages, I think, are the continued affirmations of the virtues of using genuinely full-figured models. Sophie herself makes a wonderful statement on this score:


And Anna Scholz confirms this, with her observation:


Also, it was a pleasure to read all of the wonderful things that Anna says about Sophie. She calls her "such a lovely lady" and makes many favourable references to her look and her disposition:


I only wish that the interview had been videotaped, so that everyone could have seen Anna's enthusiastic physical embrace of Miss Sheppard when she raved about Sophie carrying her curves "in such a beautiful way," as described in the text.

Graham

In their interviews, I've noticed that plus-size models always present themselves as very modest about their looks, so it's a pleasure to see how, with a little coaxing, a model can be prompted to express some justified pride in her beauty. I loved this part of the interview, and the audio recording really brought it to life. At first, Sophie sounds hesitant, but then she speaks with real pleasure about her beauty:


(And in the audio, she goes on to say something quite candid.)

In this context, Sophie's referring herself to "real" is more than a reference to the common presentation of full-figured girls as "real women." Indeed, Sophie's comment is factually justified, because after all, the minus-size models often inject and implant themselves with silicone or other artificial matter, to compensate for the flat-as-a-board frames that their starvation-torture routines have given them. They not only look plastic, they are plastic, or at least part of their bodies are. So they contrast between the reality of Sophie's soft flesh and fair hair and her rivals' synthetic physical structures is definite: it literally is the difference between a real body and an artificial body.