learning in heels

Marie Claire Has a New Reality Show and a New Plus-Size Columnist

Narciso Rodriguez and Marie Claire editor-in-chief Joanna Coles taught a class for the Learning Annex last night at the Radisson Hotel on 32nd Street. “The Learning Annex asked us, and I thought, What a great excuse to grill Narciso and interrogate him,” Coles explained to us after the class. “And also I thought that Donald Trump had performed here, and if it’s good enough for Donald Trump it’s good enough for me.” Speaking of performing, Coles confirmed that Marie Claire is working on another reality show that is NOT Running in Heels. “But it’s not in any sufficient shape to talk about it,” Coles said. “You can expect more from the school of Running in Heels.”

Coles wished that during the class she’d had more time to talk about plus-size models in fashion right now. “We have a new fashionista at the magazine, a columnist called Ashley Falcon, who’s five-foot-two and 220 pounds and she’s a size 20,” she told us. “We’ve had such a response to her. It’s been really gratifying. Very real.” Coles is also a fan of Crystal Renn. “We try very hard in Marie Claire to cast models who aren’t too thin. It’s sometimes difficult — occasionally we book people at the last minute and you can’t always get what you want. But we’re pretty good about it. I think the modeling thing is interesting, and I think people are waking up a bit more to the fact that women want to see slightly realer women.”

But not all designers seem as enthusiastic about “realer women.” “Designers embrace it less so because they’re concerned that they show their clothes on as perfect a clotheshorse as they can find.” Joanna explained. “Great designers love dressing someone like J.Lo, who has a real figure.” We will politely disagree — if anything defies reality, it’s that woman’s butt.

Marie Claire Has a New Reality Show and a New Plus-Size Columnist