MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Vogue is looking for new models.
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MARTIN: It's one way for the fashion book to try to keep itself fresh and on the front lines of what's happening in the culture.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
In its latest call for talent, Vogue says it wants to broaden the, quote, "ideal of beauty." Mark Guiducci is Vogue's creative editorial director.
MARK GUIDUCCI: It means people coming from all over the world who are of different backgrounds, look different, are differently abled.
INSKEEP: Vogue has been inviting photos and videos from, quote, "femme-identifying individuals 18 and older from all over the world," who can include people of different sizes and body types.
MARTIN: It still makes a splash, at least in some quarters, when the big fashion books announced they are embracing different types of beauty - thinking Beverly Johnson becoming the first Black model on the cover of American Vogue in 1974, Kim and Kanye - still no last names needed - the first interracial couple on the cover in 2014, plus-sized Lizzo in 2020. Guiducci says it's time to keep heading where the culture is going.
GUIDUCCI: There was a step backwards in size inclusivity - and a couple of the star models that had emerged when they decided to take a season off or decided to not attend one city of a fashion month - that all of a sudden there wasn't a slew of women behind them to take their place and step up and that the doors seemed to close right after them.
MARTIN: So there's been progress, but to a point. In the most recent fall and winter season, nearly all the models were smaller than a size 6. We need to note here that the average American woman is a size 16.
GUIDUCCI: Vogue open casting is not specifically about combating eating disorders, but it is about promoting healthy lifestyles among the entire Vogue community.
INSKEEP: And as of late last week, Vogue says it has received more than 28,000 submissions.
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