From Lizzi Miller’s celebrated nude photoshoot in Glamour to the ascension of Crystal Renn on high-fashion catwalks, everyone is buzzing about size diversity. All of a sudden, pin thin is not the only acceptable silhouette in the fashion world.

So in our second-annual body issue, we explore variations on the weight theme.

• British designer Mark Fast has made waves again for employing plus-size models (including the aforementioned Crystal Renn) for the second time in his Fall 2010 Ready-to-Wear Collection, presented at London Fashion Week on February 20. But, as excited as we are about this development, there remains some room for improvement.
• We surely can’t be the only ones who miss Mad Men while the television drama is on hiatus, but to fill the aching hole left by empty space on the Tivo, Christina Hendricks appeared in a bustier on the cover of New York Magazine this month. We totally understand why everyone is gaga for her classic curves, but why all the controversy?
• If there’s one must-read article in this issue (we like to believe that includes all of them, but regardless), it’s Kara’s profile of the exceptionally insightful ballerina known as Melissa T. in our second Real Girl Ethics column. Ever wonder what it would be like to work in an industry that constantly pesters you to be thin? As Melissa shows, it requires self-confidence (as well as buns) of steel.
• Of course, if all these stories merely whet your appetite for more, check out Seam Ripper for a few more articles on the subject of body issues.
• And don’t forget: A few days remain to enter our Weleda hand cream giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment on this very blog. So simple it’s criminal, right?

Italian Vogue’s groundbreaking “Black Issue” in 2008 took a giant leap forward in diversifying mainstream fashion magazines, but we can’t help but feel that a similarly-minded drive behind Vogue.it — the magazine’s newly relaunched website, complete with English translation — doesn’t have quite the same impact.

With tabs like Vogue Black and Vogue Curvy, the website strives to cover the full range of fashion newsmakers. But does highlighting such topics in their own sections instead set them apart? Wouldn’t including them in regular magazine content be more, you know, inclusive?

New York Magazine’s The Cut agrees:

We were reasonably amused perusing Italian Vogue‘s new Internet collective, but why must curvy women, women of color, and burgeoning design talent be viewed in separate channels? Is it not possible to have a fashion magazine that embraces women of all sizes and colors who wear young and established labels? Italian Vogue seems to think not.

What do you think? Commendable on Vogue Italia‘s part and nitpicky on ours?

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has for years been behind a retailer boycott of Australian wool, charging that the practice of mulesing is inhumane. (Which, as we’ve written before, is far from a settled matter.)

But now, the activist group is taking it a step further and alleging that all wool is unethical and should not be bought:

In its latest campaign, “Have a heart: don’t buy wool”, PETA claims “sheep and other animals used for their wool are turned into living yarn factories and are denied everything that is natural and important to them”.

The online campaign encourages buyers to instead seek out cotton, polyester or synthetic fabrics.

This is seemingly at odds with other campaigns that champion the sustainable benefits of wool (like the one spearheaded by Prince Charles). Moreover, polyester and certain other synthetic fabrics have a whole host of ethical problems associated with their manufacturing and biodegradability.

So where do you stand, E.S. readers? Do you wear wool? How about polyester?

Great news! Levi Strauss & Co. and U.K. charity Forum for the Future have jointly launched a new project to urge the fashion industry to collaborate on sustainable development with an eye to the future.

The Fashion Futures project includes a sustainability report and the production of four videos that envision what the world will be like in 2025 (focusing on the role the fashion industry plays in helping bring that about).

Says Peter Madden, CEO of Forum for the Future:

“The global fashion industry generates a trillion dollars a year. What we wear – and how it’s made and sold – can have a huge positive impact on our society and environment. This report describes how fashion’s future could be greener.”

You can watch the “Slow Is Beautiful” video above, and the other three mini-movies — titled “Community Couture,” “Techno-Chic,” and “Patchwork Planet” — can be viewed on the Fashion Futures website.

If you’re one of the lucky few who get to be in Vancouver right now for the Olympics — or if you’re planning to join us at Vancouver Eco Fashion Week in April — you’ll want to check out the Los Angeles Times‘s round-up of the city’s best secondhand-clothing stores.

We particularly liked the intro:

A few years later, lesson learned, I packed carefully for my trip to Vancouver last autumn: my smartest New York-bought parka, layers of excellent textures, skinny cords, comfy walking shoes of real leather, and sneakers for the gym only.

Puffed with pride, I strode the chilly city until, on a corner in the Kitsilano neighborhood, the zipper on my parka broke and I faced an Angeleno’s dilemma: spending a fortune on a replacement I might wear a few times a year versus getting something blah and forsaking my fashion-plate look.

The solution was just down the block at a consignment shop called In Again (1962 W. 4th Ave., [604] 738-2782). I walked in with a dead parka and walked out with a gently used but still très chic Hugo Boss blue suede shearling for a fraction of its original price.

So who feels like shopping?

If you are going to be in San Francisco the weekend of March 12, we have great news for you. Kate from SenSpa just passed along the details of the grand opening of the spa’s Wellness Apothecary.

The deets:

• Workshops on skincare, stress management, aromatherapy, makeup, and more.
• Free mini-makeovers performed by a Becca makeup artist (SenSpa is the only full service Becca Cosmetics station in San Francisco.)
• Wellness Pass (which offers guests 15% off wellness products purchased that weekend and 10% off of these products on an on-going basis.)
• A buy one custom-blended body scrub and receive a travel-size of the same blend free deal.
• Champagne, tea, and snacks!

Be there or be square (or at the very least, a lot less relaxed).

SenSpa, 1161 Gorgas Avenue, The Presidio, San Francisco, Calif. (415) 441-1777.

Got the late-winter doldrums? A case of the Mondays? We’ve got the cure: Pharmacopia’s zesty Ginger Organic Body Wash.

This gentle foaming body cleanser will perk you up in your morning shower with a pallet of organic ingredients. Certified organic aloe vera combines with organic extracts of comfrey root, marshmallow root, and chamomile flowers to soothe and softly scent your skin.

Bonus: The wash also makes a great mild shampoo!

None of Pharmacopia body washes contain parabens or sulfates, and there are other delicious scents to choose from, like citrus, lavender, and rosemary.

Ginger Organic Body Wash, $15.50 at Pharmacopia.net.

We couldn’t help but giggle a little at this quote from Steve Madden, the shoe knockoff king:

“We design shoes every day, and we are as creative as Prada. We are creating as much as the Pradas and the Chloés of the world. Do we make $900 shoes that are in Neiman Marcus? Have we made shoes just like that, which are less than $100 and have been great? Yes, we have. We’re out there creating and designing every day, making and building a meal for our customers. That creativity is not appreciated, and I would argue that what we do is harder. I could design an $800 shoe line; it’s easy. You use the best materials and you can make beautiful shoes. It’s easier than making great shoes for $90.”

But as The Cut rightly points out, Steve Madden’s company has on more than one occasion been the defendant in intellectual-property lawsuits from those top designers for ripping off their designs. He’s made an industry of copying high-end shoes for pennies on the dollar, and even if you respect his desire to bring big style to the little people, how creative do you have to be to manufacture replicas?

Above: In December, Balenciaga (the maker of the original Lego-inspired shoe on the right) sued Steve Madden over its uncanny knockoff, pictured on the left.

Don’t think you can DIY? Courtesy of the ever-fabulous Ashley at Monsterbites365.com comes this incredibly easy, foolproof DIY circle-scarf project that absolutely anyone can do.

All you need is a cozy XXL men’s tee-shirt or fleece (bonus points for thrifting an old one) and a sharp pair of scissors:

Directions:
1. Find a super soft, super big XXL men’s T-shirt with NO seams along the sides.
2. Fold the T-shirt in half length-wise to help you cut out your scarf.
3. First, cut a straight line along the bottom hem.
4. Then, cut a straight line just under the armpits of the T-shift (see diagram below).
5. Finally, experiment to your heart’s content with this versatile fashion accessory.

Need advice on how to wear your fancy new scarf? Check out our guide to chic neckwarming.

We have gained a ton of respect for young model Coco Rocha for writing this insightful, articulate essay on just how ridiculous it is that at size 4, she’s been accused of being too fat for the runway in respected publications like The New York Times and the New York Daily News.

Let’s let Ms. Rocha have the floor:

I’m a 21 year old model, 6 inches taller and 10 sizes smaller than the average American woman. Yet in another parallel universe I’m considered “fat”… This was the subject of major discussion this week and the story that was spun was: “Coco Rocha is too fat for the runway”.

Is that the case? No. I am still used and in demand as a model. In fact I find myself busier than ever. In the past few years I have not gained an extreme amount of weight, only an inch here and there as any young woman coming out of her teenage years would.

But this issue of model’s weight is, and always has been, of concern to me. There are certain moral decisions which seem like no brainers to us. For example, not employing children in sweatshops, and not increasing the addictiveness of cigarettes. When designers, stylists or agents push children to take measures that lead to anorexia or other health problems in order to remain in the business, they are asking the public to ignore their moral conscience in favor of the art.

Surely, we all see how morally wrong it is for an adult to convince an already thin 15 year old that she is actually too fat. It is unforgivable that an adult should demand that the girl unnaturally lose the weight vital to keep her body functioning properly. How can any person justify an aesthetic that reduces a woman or child to an emaciated skeleton? Is it art? Surely fashion’s aesthetic should enhance and beautify the human form, not destroy it.

We are in awe of Ms. Rocha’s poise and grace in responding to such heartless and baseless criticism, and we hope others listen to what she’s saying.