The swimwear business continues to make strides towards inclusivity, thanks partially to the girl behind Paraiso Miami Beach Swim Week, Natalija Stojanovic.
The inventive director of swim week’s main occasions tells Yahoo Life that the showcase of the perfect swimwear collections has advanced right into a “festival” celebrating the summer time way of life and all the magnificence that comes with it. It’s additionally grown to embody a mission that places customers on the forefront and makes it a precedence to signify the huge variety as seen in the actual world.
“We really want to show how people look in real life on the runway, especially with swimwear. We all have different bodies, we’re all a different size, so inclusivity is really important,” Stojanovic explains. “It’s just how it’s supposed to be.”
Throughout the previous couple of years, efforts to grow to be extra inclusive have been clear as taking part manufacturers like Sports Illustrated Swimsuit have made historical past with the fashions represented on its runway. Kittenish, Sinesia Karol, Maaji, Luli Fama, Cupshe and BFyne have been among the many manufacturers that embraced that evolution this 12 months.
Still, Stojanovic admits that it is a slow-going course of because the business continues to unlearn numerous previous problematic practices. She even recollects her personal expertise as a younger woman who was impacted by the visuals she noticed within the media.
“When I was a teenager, I was looking at magazines and runway shows and it was always like a zero to two size model on the runway and it was always so frustrating. Going on a diet because you’re wanting to look like them and you just kind of live constantly in that headspace,” she explains. “It was always that beautiful skinny woman on the cover of the magazine, but we live in a different world now.”
Her personal dissatisfaction with the unique magnificence requirements she grew up with is a part of her motivation to create a extra inviting expertise for these coming to South Beach or experiencing the occasions from afar. Having a teenage daughter has additionally contributed to the way in which that Stojanovic approaches her work.
“I always think about what is it that I want her to see on that runway, what message she will get and how I want her to see the world,” Stojanovic says. “I’m fortunate to have this whole platform to create that message.”
While Stojanovic would not have management over every particular person runway present, she explains the method of bringing manufacturers in and reminding them of the values of Paraiso Miami Beach. “We want to show on the runway how people look in real life and you know, for everyone to feel comfortable the next day when they go to the beach and wear their swimwear,” she says is the underside line.
By partnering with Models of Color Matter, an advocacy group centered on the illustration of Black and brown fashions, the mission of inclusivity and variety can also be positively impacting the setting backstage. This is a vital half to Stojanovic’s 360-degree strategy.
“The problem was backstage with the execution of hair and makeup looks,” she explains. “So we’re focusing on making sure that backstage is a really welcoming environment for all of the models, no matter the color, and for our hair and makeup teams to be ready for all these different hair types.”
The development of Paraiso Miami Beach has been “organic,” Stojanovic says, as is the viral media protection of the occasion that has seen a illustration of moms, trans fashions and people with disabilities on the runway. As the dialog in regards to the occasion and its constructive efforts develop, she hopes that the push towards inclusivity does as properly.
“Everything that we do on our runways, it’s really impacting runways worldwide,” she says. “It’s just kind of like a new sort of a fashion week. There is nothing like this out there.”
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