By Lizzo discusses lack of body inclusivity and reveals she spent years feeling ‘ashamed’
Lizzo spoke to ELLE UK about the lack of body inclusivity in the music and fashion industries and said: “I don’t want to be the token big girl for the fashion world, I want to open the door.”
“Nearly every star I saw on stage was thinner and light-skinned, and they didn’t look like me,” she continued. “I wasn’t really set up to believe that I was desirable, for me, being a pop star – part of it is people either want to be you or be with you.”
The singer reveals the insecurities were so bad that she wanted to have other people on the stage with her so that the focus wasn’t always directed at her.
“I always felt like, even if the song is great, people wouldn’t want to hear it coming from me. So I thought, if I have other people on stage, too, that will take the focus off me a little bit.”
Although she felt years feeling ‘ashamed’, she now believes she is worthy of her successful career, saying she created her music to help her find her voice and help other people, rather than to become famous. She hopes to bring visibility to people who don’t fit the western beauty standards and is urging the fashion industry to make sure people of all shapes and sizes can fit into their garments.
While Lizzo says she appreciates that brands and labels have custom-made outfits especially for her for photoshoots, she now wishes that the fashion industry would provide clothing for individuals of all body types.
“I’ve had a lot of shoots with people making outfits from scratch for me,” she explained. “And I’m not mad at it. Thank you. But what about the millions of people who are my size or bigger who can’t get access to chic and glamorous clothing?”
Image: GettyImages
Written by: Tahsin Aktar
