During Vogue’s Forces of Fashion summit, Lizzo spoke out about anything fashion-related. Lizzo spoke with Jeremy Scott of Moschino over the phone from Mexico, where she is presently unwinding and working on her upcoming album. She also used the opportunity to discuss her personal style journey and the part Black women have had in the development of modern fashion culture.
Lizzo stressed the importance of embracing Black women and those with larger frames while talking about how fashion can promote inclusivity, but she also pointed out that inclusivity had to extend well beyond physical appearance to encompass people’s thoughts and cultures.
“Fashion is so indebted to Black women’s culture: Bamboo earrings, baby hairs, graffiti…. the list goes on,” the singer recounted. “It’s not just about ‘ok, we put a Black girl [in a magazine].’ It’s also, we put a Black girl behind the scenes too. We’re giving people jobs. We are including big [and Black] women in the conversation. [Your project] is not going to be less chic because we are a part of it. If anything it’s just going to be more expansive and more impactful.”
“Now, more than ever, we need everybody’s voices to get the point across. No one could be left out now,” Lizzo continues about fashion’s take on inclusivity. “Putting clothes on big Black women like me is where it begins. I loved when Kamala [Harris] said ‘I am the first Black female VP but I’m definitely not going to be the last because what I represent is possibility.’ That’s how I feel about being the first fat Black woman on the cover of Vogue. I’m definitely not going to be the last.”
“We are here to stay. We are important. We are chic. We are beautiful,” Lizzo continued. “I love sample size, blonde, blue-eyed, tall girls. I think they are gorgeous [but] I think we all could be on a fashion show. I think we all deserve to be on the runway … I love Gisele Bundchen, Adriana Lima, Kate Moss… but I want to see a me too. I want to see a me strutting with legs and thick thighs.”
“Growing up, I had to have ingenuity as a big girl because fashion was not available for my body type. I had to get creative. I used eBay [to] ordering Gucci t-shirts in extra-large men’s and I would do the Missy Elliot and cut the top open, tie a little knot around my little belly and stuff. If it wasn’t made for me, I made it for me,” Lizzo recalled. “[Back then,] it was hard to find clothes that fit and to have these great designers do bespoke special pieces that fit my body, my rolls, my belly… that’s the most special feeling. I feel so included, like ‘you belong here,’ versus the opposite of that feeling, which I felt for a long time.”
Lizzo claimed to be “a really jazzy girl” during her conversation with the designer, despite her difficulty finding clothing that fit. “They used to call me that in high school. I stood out so much that it wasn’t cool. I remember I wore these red pumps to school and people were like ‘what is this a Beyoncé video?’ They made fun of me for taking fashion risks! But I always did. I just want to be weird. That speaks to me. Then I got a little older and I met amazing people who introduced me to the possibility of expressing myself through my clothing. We can make moments and change the game by being ourselves.”