It’s one thing to think clothes look better on thin women. It’s an entirely different thing to think larger women shouldn’t be allowed to wear them.It’s certainly not breaking news to anyone that high-fashion models are unusually thin women, often with boyish bodies and few curves at all. The function of models with such slim, straight-lined bodies is to draw the eye to the clothes and not the models, according to many industry professionals.Up-and-coming designer Mark Fast decided to challenge this industry standard a few weeks ago during London Fashion Week. He used three models in his runway show who were each British size 12s or 14s — roughly equivalent to an American size 8, 10 or 12.The rest of Fast’s models were “normal” size models, but the three larger women caused quite a stir among Fast’s employees. A stylist quit three days before the show out of sheer indignation with Fast’s decision to use larger women, and another was fired after being exceedingly rude to the plus-size models.Fast has stated he was trying to show how his clothes can look beautiful on all women – a smart marketing move, with the average American woman at a size 14. This shouldn’t be such a revolutionary concept. There’s no reason innovative, beautiful clothes can’t be made in larger sizes and sold to larger women. Plus-size women are just as deserving of quality materials, construction and style in their clothes as are smaller women.Particularly in America, where capitalism is king and the free market is treated as a mystical presence which reigns over every facet of our lives, one would think apparel designers, manufacturers and distributors would be jumping at the chance to make more money.The whopping 62 percent of women who are classified as overweight according to the American Obesity Association, represent a massive market not yet successfully saturated in the United States.So why don’t more retailers and designers cater to this obvious majority of women?Sizeism.The discriminatory practices of the fashion industry are deeply ingrained. Women must be young, tall and slim to have any kind of career as a high-fashion model. Likewise, women must meet this beauty ideal to wear beautiful clothing.The blame for such blatant discrimination doesn’t lie with any one group of people within the fashion industry – it’s a collective effort of prejudice, systematic disenfranchisement and perhaps most importantly, cowardice toward the prevailing biases within the industry.Everyone in a position of power in the fashion world is guilty of perpetuating these unrealistic body ideals and standards of beauty. Perhaps most famous is the editor of Vogue, Anna Wintour, who has been rather outspoken in her criticisms of people who did not meet her standards of beauty and size.Wintour did at least receive her due when both the book and the movie “The Devil Wears Prada” were released — with the antagonist reportedly based on Wintour herself.The rest of the fashion industry has not yet been held accountable for its bad behavior and prejudices toward the majority of American women.Mark Fast is certainly making a step in the right direction, and I applaud him for having the courage to do what few others have.Standing up for a harmless majority of people shouldn’t be such a big deal. It’s only common sense ignoring customers and hoping they go away is very bad business. Fashion is about looking as good as you possibly can, and large women deserve that opportunity just as much as anyone else.Sara Boyd is a 22-year-old general studies junior from Baton Rouge. Follow her on Twitter @TDR_sboyd.—-Contact Sara Boyd at [email protected]