Introduction
Magazines and calendars occupy contiguous zones of visual authority. A calendar that publishes under a magazine’s imprimatur performs a dual role: it is a commercial object sold to consumers and a curated statement about taste, idealization and editorial priorities. Over the past decade plus-size glamour models have moved from niche editorial placements into headline casting for magazine-driven calendar projects. That migration reconfigures both markets and visual norms, with measurable commercial stakes and tactical considerations for editors, photographers and rights holders.
Historical Marker: When Calendars Became a Spotlight
High-profile calendar projects have signalled editorial shifts. In 2015 the Pirelli calendar included a plus-size model for the first time in its more-than-50-year history. Candice Huffine, the model chosen for that edition, framed the selection as a sign of change: “My presence on this set—the most glamorous in the world—is a sign that things are really changing,” she told British Vogue. (E! News reproduced the quotation when reporting the casting.) See the coverage at E! News: https://www.eonline.com/news/562774/2015-pirelli-calendar-will-feature-a-plus-size-model-for-the-first-time-ever
The Pirelli decision had downstream effects. It created a visible precedent that prestigious magazine-affiliated calendars could include fuller-bodied subjects without recasting them as anomalies. The calendar format, with its monthly vignettes, gives magazines a vehicle to present multiple photographic moods while sustaining a continuity of editorial voice across a year. That continuity matters when an industry intends to reframe what a mainstream audience regards as fashionable or glamorous.
Market Data That Shapes Editorial Decisions
Commercial arithmetic helps explain why calendar editors pay attention. Market-research firms report large and growing consumer spending on plus-size apparel. Grand View Research estimated the global plus-size clothing market at USD 311.44 billion in 2023 and projected growth to USD 412.39 billion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate of 4.1% between 2024 and 2030. See Grand View Research for the data: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/plus-size-clothing-market-report
Runway and editorial representation have not tracked market expansion. Vogue Business analysed Autumn/Winter 2023 runway shows and concluded that of 9,137 looks across 219 shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris, just 0.6 per cent were plus-size (US 14+). The same report flagged a wider gap between product availability and visual representation on runway stages. See the report: https://www.vogue.com/article/the-vogue-business-autumnwinter-2023-size-inclusivity-report
Those two data points—large consumer demand and scant runway representation—create a practical opening for magazine calendars. A calendar can be a low-risk platform for brands and publishers to register inclusivity on a quarterly or annual cadence while testing audience response.
Concrete Examples From Magazine Projects
Calendar-adjacent editorial work has varied in form. Love Magazine ran an advent-video series that included Ashley Graham; the People report summarised the participation and its visibility for mainstream audiences. See coverage: https://people.com/style/ashley-graham-shakes-it-in-pink-lingerie-in-a-very-sexy-video-for-loves-advent-calendar/
Glamour, a major consumer title, launched an inaugural advent calendar curated by its beauty desk that focused on product selections rather than model-led imagery; the format nonetheless demonstrates magazine-led calendar projects expanding their remit beyond mere wall calendars into serialized digital and packaged products. See Glamour’s announcement: https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/glamour-advent-calendar-launch
Commercially produced plus-size calendars are widely available on retail platforms, indicating an active marketplace that magazine publishers can address. Commercial listings for curvy and plus-size calendars appear on major marketplaces (examples: Amazon and Etsy), which shows consumer demand for calendars that do not centralize straight-size norms. Representative links: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Plus+Size+Models+Calendar and https://www.etsy.com/market/curvy_calendar
Editorial Tension: Tokenism Versus Durable Inclusion
Editorial teams must judge whether a calendar placement is substantive representation or tokenistic gesture. The Vogue Business analysis captured a tension that persists in high-fashion circles: “Plus-size representation has gone backwards,” Felicity Hayward told the magazine, summarising empirical trends she has been tracking. See the quote in the Vogue Business report: https://www.vogue.com/article/the-vogue-business-autumnwinter-2023-size-inclusivity-report
That observation points to a common pattern. A single, high-visibility casting creates press attention, but systemic inclusion requires changes in production workflows—sizing samples, patterning, makeup and wardrobe practices, casting windows and hair-and-makeup tests that preserve the subject’s comfort and dignity. Calendars that treat plus-size models as an editorial afterthought reproduce the very exclusion the casting appears to correct.
Production Requirements and Practical Steps
Magazines that intend to present diverse bodies across a dated product must change production habits. The following operational measures align with industry reporting and the experiences of practitioners:
- Plan fittings and sample-making early. Designers and casting directors who expand ranges report that early measurement and made-to-measure samples reduce last-minute alterations. (Vogue Business reporting on designers’ experiences details the logistical impact.) See: https://www.vogue.com/article/the-vogue-business-autumnwinter-2023-size-inclusivity-report
- Publish size-range disclosure. Publishers can state the sample sizes used in shoots, which gives buyers and industry observers a transparent metric.
- Compensate equitably and contract clearly. Release forms and licensing contracts should reflect current usages across print, web and merchandising; calendar licensing often extends into advertising tie-ins, product bundles and social promotion.
- Partner with producers who have demonstrated comfort with a range of body types. Photographers, stylists and hair-and-makeup teams must have experience working with fuller bodies to avoid minor errors that produce discordant images.
These steps reduce the risk of tokenism and improve the quality of the final product.
Commercial Strategy: Why Magazines Should Care
The market case is straightforward. Grand View Research’s market estimate and growth forecast indicate a large buying cohort that is underrepresented in campaign work. Calendars and related magazine products offer revenue streams beyond single-issue sales: direct-to-consumer bundles, limited runs, branded merchandise and licensing partnerships with retailers that sell extended-size product lines. Editors who treat calendars as an active revenue and brand tool will find measurable returns when editorial decisions align with consumer demand.
Magazine publishers who treat calendars merely as prestige items miss a commercial opportunity. A calendar that pairs authentic casting with robust marketing and sensible merchandising materially extends a title’s relationship with a long-term buyer segment.
Risks and Reputation Management
The reputational risk for a magazine that mishandles a plus-size calendar project is concrete. Tokenistic gestures generate critical backlash and erode trust from a consumer base that increasingly evaluates publications on representation metrics. Conversely, a carefully produced calendar that integrates models across a year can strengthen editorial authority, attract advertisers seeking wider reach and function as a product with a longer tail in secondary sales channels.
Wrapping Up
Plussize glamour models are reshaping what magazine calendars signal to audiences and markets. Calendar projects offer publishers a contained, narratively coherent platform to display diversity and to test new commercial strategies. The work requires deliberate production choices, contractual clarity and measurement transparency. Data from market research (for example, Grand View Research’s estimate that the global plus-size clothing market was USD 311.44 billion in 2023: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/plus-size-clothing-market-report) and representation studies (Vogue Business’s finding that only 0.6 per cent of AW23 runway looks were plus-size: https://www.vogue.com/article/the-vogue-business-autumnwinter-2023-size-inclusivity-report) situates the opportunity in economic and cultural reality.
Historic moments—Candice Huffine’s inclusion in the Pirelli calendar and Ashley Graham’s visibility in magazine projects—provide reference points that demonstrate both the potential and the pitfalls of editorial inclusion. The practical route forward asks magazines to convert episodic gestures into consistent editorial practices, to align production resources with stated inclusivity goals and to recognise that a calendar is not merely a collectible but a repeated, framed statement about what a title values.