How to Become a Plus-Size / Curve Model in the UK — TDA

The Diversity Agency, London. Founded 2016. One of the largest dedicated plus-size and curve rosters at any independent UK model agency, representing talent across UK fashion, beauty, e-commerce and lifestyle casting.

How to become a plus-size or curve model in the UK

Plus-size and curve modelling in the UK has changed faster in the last five years than any other corner of the industry. Brands that wouldn't touch a UK size 14 a decade ago are now building entire campaigns around plus-size casting. The infrastructure has lagged behind: most UK agencies still treat "Curve" as a category they tack onto a Mainboard rather than a board with its own roster, its own bookers, and its own briefs. That's the gap TDA's Curve board fills.

This guide exists because The Diversity Agency was founded in 2016 specifically to support categories of talent the wider UK agency landscape was failing. Plus-size and curve was the loudest example. The article below is the guide TDA's booking team would have handed to those early applicants: what plus-size and curve modelling actually means in the UK market, the kinds of work available, what bookers scan for in an application, and how to apply to the kind of agency that can build a curve career properly.

What "curve" and "plus-size model" actually mean in the UK

The starting point is UK size 14. That's the floor at most agencies, including TDA. Some agencies set it at 12. The ceiling is open — TDA signs plus-size and curve models all the way through sizes 22, 24 and beyond. The category is defined less by a single dress size and more by the casting brief: plus-size briefs come from brands explicitly looking for talent outside the standard fashion mainboard size range, and they want the casting to look like a representative cross-section of their actual customer.

Worth flagging the terminology: in the UK market, curve is the standard term agencies use. Plus size is more common in the US, but is now used widely by UK brands and casting directors too. Curvy gets used informally but rarely on a contract. Aspiring models searching for representation will find more under plus size model agency UK or curve model agency UK than under curvy model.

Why the UK plus-size market is finally serious

Five years ago, plus-size and curve casting was largely confined to a handful of dedicated curve brands. Today it's standard practice across most UK fashion retail. Boohoo, ASOS, Manière De Voir, PrettyLittleThing, Simply Be, JD Williams, Yours Clothing, Marks & Spencer, Sweaty Betty and Reformation all build curve into their seasonal casting. Beauty brands are increasingly including plus-size models in casting briefs even where the product isn't size-led. Personal-care clients like Bodyform run campaigns where curve representation isn't a footnote — it's the brief.

The work is there. What's been missing is the agency infrastructure to support plus-size models properly: bookers who specialise, rosters that go beyond a token board, an honest signing process. That's the gap TDA was built to close.

The types of plus-size and curve work available

Plus-size and curve modelling in the UK spans more brief types than most aspiring models realise. The board at TDA covers all of these:

E-commerce

The volume work. UK fashion retailers shooting hundreds of products a week. Day rates are lower than editorial, but the work is consistent and books months in advance. Plus-size e-comm is where most signed curve models build their early income.

Editorial fashion

Magazine work — UK editions of Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Grazia, plus titles like Hunger, Dazed and i-D. Editorial pays less per day but builds a curve model's portfolio in a way that pulls higher-tier casting later. Curve representation in UK editorial has grown sharply since 2022.

Commercial & lifestyle

Bigger budgets, broader brief — telecoms, banking, holiday brands, supermarkets, automotive. Lifestyle briefs explicitly want curve representation in cast across the board. Day rates are higher, usage longer, the work more visible.

Beauty

Skincare, haircare, makeup, fragrance. Plus-size casting in UK beauty has caught up faster than fashion in some categories. Bookers note that beauty briefs tend to be face-led — proportion and confidence matter, dress size is secondary.

Swimwear & lingerie

A specific brief type with its own confidence and comfort requirements. UK brands like Curvy Kate, Bravissimo, Boux Avenue and Figleaves cast curve specifically. Talent who book swimwear consistently are usually the ones who can hold a frame without trying to minimise their body.

Runway

Less frequent in the UK than the US or continental Europe, but growing. London Fashion Week shows now regularly include curve casting; non-Fashion-Week brand shows do so more often. Walking experience builds quickly once one or two shows are booked.

Fit modelling

The behind-the-scenes work — being the body a designer or brand uses to size sample garments. Quieter, often unseen, but consistent and well-paid for models with stable measurements and reliable availability.

Measurements and stats — what UK plus-size agencies want

Specifics matter. Here's what TDA's Curve board looks for:

• Dress size: UK 14 and up
• Height: usually 5'7" upwards for fashion castings. Lifestyle and commercial briefs are more flexible — TDA's curve roster includes working models from 5'4" to 6'0".
• Bust, waist, hips: measured in inches, not estimated. The agency wants the actual numbers.
• Bra size: include band and cup — increasingly important for swimwear and lingerie briefs.
• Shoe size: UK sizing. Some commercial briefs are shoe-specific.
• Proportion: a balanced shape — the ratio between bust, waist and hips — photographs well across the widest range of briefs.
• Skin tone, hair texture, ethnicity: TDA signs across the spread because clients cast across the spread.

Beyond stats, the casting decision comes down to face, confidence on camera, and proportion. There's no single curve body type. The strongest plus-size rosters cover a real range.

Ethnic diversity within plus-size modelling

One of the things TDA was founded to fix is the assumption that "curve casting" means white curve casting. The agency's plus-size and curve roster reflects the full ethnic range it represents agency-wide: Asian, South Asian, Caucasian and Black models, signed across every size from UK 14 upwards.

Why it matters: brands casting curve campaigns now expect representative shortlists. A booker who can't show a casting director three or four Black curve models, two or three South Asian curve models and a strong Asian curve presence alongside the Caucasian board has a structural problem. TDA was built to avoid that problem.

For aspiring plus-size models from underrepresented backgrounds: the demand from brands is real. The shortage of properly-signed talent in those categories is significant. If the stats and digitals are right, applications from Asian, South Asian and Black curve applicants are read with particular interest.

What TDA's bookers scan for in a plus-size application

Same checklist the booking team applies to any application, with three specific weightings for curve briefs:

1. Confidence in your own body, on camera

Plus-size briefs reward talent who occupy their own frame. A model who shrinks in the shot — pulls clothes loose, tucks an arm, angles to look smaller — won't be re-booked, no matter how strong the face. A curve model who stands straight and trusts the lens books seasons of work.

2. Skin and hair, same as any beauty brief

Plus-size casting doesn't lower the bar on these. Clear texture, even tone, healthy hair — all read the same on camera regardless of dress size.

3. Proportion across the body

What's consistently delivered for the curve models on TDA's roster: balanced bust-waist-hip ratios, defined shoulders, length through the neck and limbs. None of these are about being smaller. They're about how the body holds a frame.

What gets plus-size applicants rejected

The mistakes the booking team sees most often:

• Photos that try to hide the body. Loose clothing, baggy hoodies, sitting poses, angles from above. The brief is plus-size casting — digitals need to show the body, not minimise it.
• Heavy makeup and editing. Same rule as any beauty applicant. The brand wants to see what skin actually does.
• Aspirational stats. Send the real ones. A UK 16 should write 16. The casting brief is built around the shape the applicant actually has.
• Pitching as "almost curve". A UK 10 applicant hoping to be signed on Curve will be put on Mainboard if the stats fit — but the curve brief specifically calls for size 14 and up. Apply to the board that actually fits.
• Filtered or heavily-retouched submission photos. Phone-camera HDR, beauty filters and slimming filters all get caught instantly by experienced bookers. A real, un-retouched set of digitals is always stronger than a polished but altered one.

Building digitals for a plus-size application

The four shots TDA needs:

1. Front head-and-shoulders: daylight, plain background, hair down or pulled back simply, no heavy makeup, neutral expression.
2. Side profile: same setup, head turned to one side.
3. Full body, front: fitted clothing — vest top, fitted jeans or leggings, bare feet or simple trainers. No baggy layers.
4. Full body, back: same outfit, facing away from the camera.

Phone camera is fine. Plain wall, daylight from a window, no flash. The booker is looking for the body and the face, not the photography.

If a curve model can't see her own body clearly in her digitals, neither can the booker.

What year one looks like for a signed plus-size model

The honest version, from talent currently on TDA's Curve board:

Months 1–3 — onboarding and tests. New signings go through TDA's onboarding programme (digitals, Instagram review, on-set conduct, an introduction to the booker who'll handle the desk). The first photographer test shoots usually happen in the first 4–8 weeks, building the portfolio above what the application digitals can do.

Months 3–6 — first castings. Bookers start putting the new signing on UK e-commerce shortlists, lifestyle briefs and beauty castings. Most curve signings book their first paid job inside this window. Day rates start at standard TDA rates — the curve board isn't a discount tier.

Months 6–12 — consistency. A signed plus-size model with reliable availability, professional conduct on set and growing portfolio depth becomes a repeat-book for the brands she fits. By month 12, the strongest curve signings have a small list of clients who'll request them specifically.

It's not glamorous in year one. It's a job — turning up on time, taking direction, holding a frame for hours. The models who build careers are the ones who treat it as one.

Why TDA's Curve board exists

TDA was founded in 2016 specifically because the agency landscape was failing entire categories of talent. Plus-size was the loudest example. The brief from clients was changing fast. The agency response was glacial.

The Curve board sits alongside Mainboard, Development, Classic, Hands, Modest and Family — seven specialist boards under one roof. That structure matters for plus-size applicants because it means there's a booker whose week is built around curve casting, a roster that already includes models worth sitting alongside, and a client list that books from Curve specifically rather than treating it as an afterthought.

How to apply to TDA's Curve board

The application form is at thediversity.agency/apply. It's the same form for every board — applicants select Curve in the board field. The agency needs:

• The four digital shots described above (front head-and-shoulders, side profile, full body front, full body back).
• Full stats: dress size, bust, waist, hips, height, bra size, shoe size, eye colour, hair, age, location.
• A short note on location and any previous modelling work.

The booking team reads every Curve application that comes in. Responses go out within a week, yes or no.

To see the existing plus-size and curve roster first, browse the Curve board here. For a deeper read on what bookers look for across all boards, the criteria piece is here.

Frequently asked

Do plus-size models earn less than mainboard models?

No. Rates are set by usage, brief and exclusivity, not by board placement. A curve model on a national campaign earns the same day rate as a mainboard model on the equivalent brief. Earnings vary far more by client tier than by board.

What's the youngest age TDA signs to the Curve board?

18 and over for full Curve. TDA does sign 16–17 year olds in some cases through the Development board with parental consent and child-licensing in place; speak to the booking team before applying.

Do I need professional photos to apply?

No. Phone-camera digitals in daylight are exactly what the booking team wants to see. Professional photos are useful for the portfolio after signing, not for the application.

Is there an upper age limit on Curve?

No. The Curve board overlaps with Classic for talent 40+. Plenty of TDA's curve models are working into their fifties and sixties.

I'm not in London — can I still apply?

Yes. TDA signs models based across the UK. Most castings and bookings are London-based, so travel is part of the work, but talent doesn't need to be London-resident to be signed.

Whatever agency you apply to, send the right photos and the right stats. The infrastructure for serious plus-size and curve careers in the UK is finally being built. Get into the right roster.