BoPo Fashion Icons: A Guide to Diversifying Your Feed

The growing digital world has allowed for influencers to take precedence over models, aka it is time for the representation of bodies that haven’t been exhibited in the past. Even the runway is seeing more diversification, thanks to body positive powerhouses like Emme Aronson and Ashley Graham. The future of fashion will be groundbreaking and unparalleled, and will reject the idealization of a specific body type.

First, here’s a brief summary of the BoPo movement, it’s history, and how it is shaping the increasing inclusivity of the fashion industry.

BoPo stands for body positivity, meaning the acceptance of all bodies in their unaltered form. Living in a culture that has historically shamed and othered bodies for their shape or their coloring, the idea of appreciating one’s appearance without shame is one that has rocked today’s psychology. With the popularity of social media platforms heightened in 2012, the movement of regarding one’s body in an encouraging light has taken off. The shame that comes from physical appearance is socially learned, and the platform for activists to preach a new way of regarding oneself allows for a disruption of these normatives.

One of the major activists behind the BoPo Movement is Tess Holiday, who founded ‘@EffYourBeautyStandards’ in 2012. This would serve as a middle finger to the diet-obsessed society that has lacked representation for so long. Following the creation of this hashtag, there was an influx in support for the movement. Since then, even major fashion houses have opened up their ideals of beauty and have diversified who is shown on the runway. The fact that young people are able to relate to what is distributed by the media is a phenomental improvement, one that will continue to progress with the ongoing rise of the BoPo Movement.

One way of engaging with the BoPo community is by diversifying your feed, exposing yourself to a variety of bodies instead of just those that are glorified through traditional media.

Below is a compilation of fashion influencers that provide insight into trending styles and updates in the fashion industry, without feeding into diet culture.