29 May 2016

For a very long time the modelling industry has been dominated by straight-sized or’ slenders’, so much to the extent of shaping every young girl’s dreams to one day have this ‘perfect body’.

However, of recent in the local scene, plus size individuals have been making their mark, even though the plus size modeling industry is definitely playing catch up with the conventional modeling industry.

While many campaigners have been calling for an increased use of larger models, others have complained that this is just promoting obesity and should be stopped. While other plus size individuals choose to sulk at home and be miserable, two youths, 25-year-old Bonolo Oabile and 23-year-old Kelly Kathurima have made it a point to raise awareness on this issue. The two have started a movement called Afri-curvesBW and are determined to change the plus-size modelling industry and ideology.

“Afri-curvesBW vision is for all plus size individuals to embrace their bodies no matter the size. The movement believes one can walk into a store, pick out anything they like and try it on. If it fits and looks great, pay for it and wear it with pride. It also believes strongly in the saying ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ and celebrates plus size individuals who love fashion and are not ashamed to show off their assets,” concurred the two founders.

They said they decided to honour thick ladies after doing a shoot together and realised they both shared the same vision about the modelling industry. “We strongly felt that our weight and look should not stop us from looking stylish and trendy and thus we began a blog to reach out to our likes and give them confidence that it is ok to be big,” said Oabile.

As a plus-size model and fashion blogger, Oabile is aware of the challenges big-boned people are faced with as well as how society views them. “People tend to think that we are obese and need to starve ourselves so that we lose weight. Some feel we love food a lot but this is not always the case,” she explained.

Oabile said this had the potential of affecting their self-esteem, but said that ever since the start of the movement they have managed not only to boost the confidence of many young women with healthy self-body images who get teased by their peers, but to also give them a platform to model and feel beautiful as a way of celebrating their beautiful bodies.

“Everyone is beautiful in their own way and life is too short to spend hating yourself as opposed to loving yourself, we encourage people to accept their imperfections and to love themselves no matter what anyone may say because nobody is perfect,” Kathurima chipped in.

The two mentioned that they have had their fair share of a challenging childhood growing up as they were always teased of their big bodies and as a result, this made them more determined to help young girls to accept their bodies.

“We have struggled with body and self-esteem issues throughout our lives and through this initiative we hope to send a message of hope to other ladies,” they said.

Oabile recalls how as a young child she was always laughed at because of how she looked, “I was teased a lot about my big body, my big behind other kids always asked me why I was so big. All this stressed me and I was always unhappy, but the day I started to accept her body everything changed,” she said

The two have received positive feedback since the beginning of their blog. Many young ladies are grateful that they have become the voice they have been craving for. Ends