First there was Zach Miko, and now Ben Whit. The curve male model sector is slowly growing, and we’re excited. And now that IMG has expanded its ‘Brawn’ board to include men larger than sample sized runway models, they’re continuously finding new males to represent the curve community and find a place in the fashion world.
U.K. native, Ben Whittaker, who goes by Ben Whit, has been slowly taking over the international male curve model sector at the young age of 24, and was signed by Bridge Models Agency as Britain’s first curve male model.
In an article with The Guardian, Whit’s modeling career actually started as playful banter between him and his girlfriend as she got tired of him always bragging about his looks, so she got him a gift certificate for a professional photo shoot to prove him wrong. Whit ended up being right.
His outlook on fashion and only catering to a certain group of people? Sounds pretty similar to a lot of our complaints when he told The Guardian, “A lot of high street companies don’t sell big enough sizes. I’d have to buy clothes online and hope they would fit, and at the start of summer I’d buy large shorts quickly before the few pairs available had sold out. It was frustrating.” Welcome to the club, Ben!
He went on to say, “There is pressure to look a certain way. You see slim men on television and in fitness magazines. People want to get that look, but they’re just not built that way. I’ve seen young men in the gym putting their body through a lot of stress, and it’s just not worth it. A lot of people have this misconception that plus-size means overweight — that’s wrong. For a man, it’s broad shoulders and a big chest. For a woman, it just means they’ve got curves. People need to realize this.” That’s basically what we’re fighting for Ben, and we couldn’t be happier to know you’re fighting the good fight for the guys out there struggling with the same issues.
