Kenya's plus-size fashion show says 'big is beautiful'

Models present designs by local designers during the main event during the East African Plus Size Fashion Affair on June 07, 2025 in Kisumu, Kenya. [AFP]

In African wax print dresses and tight-fitting evening wear, the "plus-size" models strutted up the runway in Kisumu, western Kenya, in a special event designed to celebrate the beauty of larger women.

Started nine years ago, the East Africa Plus Size Fashion Affair is, according to founder Winnie Wenga Walcott, the only event of its kind in Kenya despite the fact the region "has mostly really plump women".

"We have seen the media really trying to focus on a certain body type of women," she told AFP. "And in so doing, this has really affected their self-esteem."

In front of more than 300 screaming spectators, a dozen amateur models walked and danced their way along the catwalk this weekend.

Unlike traditional haute couture shows, there was a lot of smiling.

Among them was Oprah Odhiambo, a Kenyan entrepreneur, who wanted to show that "plus size can do what the petite can do, so I feel joyous."

"There are those plus-size women who are in hiding because they are afraid that people will body shame them," she said, adding that she hopes the show will make them reassess their self-image.

Models present designs by local designers during the main event during the East African Plus Size Fashion Affair on June 07, 2025 in Kisumu, Kenya. [AFP]

Singer and model Rosemary Odire, stage name Nyakusa Nyamama, spoke of the sneers she has faced when performing.

"I have encountered so many problems... people are like 'Yo big mama, what are you going to do there, you cannot dance, get off the stage,'" she said.

"But I am here portraying... not just any beauty, not just plus-size beauty, but the African beauty in me," added Odire, who swayed her hips on the runway in a leopard-skin skirt.

Coming from all walks of Kenyan society, the models did not have this level of confidence when they started training in March.

"They were very timid about their body sizes," recalled Walcott, adding that there was now a "huge difference".

The fashion show addresses health issues but also focuses on "accepting curvy women" and "celebrating their appearance by blending it with fashion due to the difficulty they face finding clothes," said Walcott.

Walcott created the show to honour her own mother -- so she could "see herself as beautiful."

"You see how big I am, I really hated my body, but she really encouraged me," said Walcott's mother, Seline Aoko, speaking at the fruit stall in Kisumu where she works.

"Big is beautiful!"