“It’s been a very positive opportunity for us to open up the dialogue,” Fiona Dieffenbacher, BFA program director at Parsons, told CNNMoney. “We’re always encouraging our students to expand their ideas outside of the [fashion industry stereotypes].”
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When Parsons broke down its current dress form sizes for CNNMoney, it said that just 4% of its 450 forms are plus size.
That percentage is disproportionate considering the dress size of the average American woman is between a 16 and 18, according to new research from Washington State University. Fashion designers tend to design for runway, where sizes average 0 to 4.
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