Chinese plus-size influencer spreads body positivity through fashion

Surrounded by racks of colorful dresses and blazers in China's manufacturing hub of Guangzhou, plus-size clothing brand owner and influencer Amanda Yao is on a mission to promote body positivity.

She is part of a small but growing number of women in China who are challenging restrictive beauty standards, including thinness, pale skin, and childlike features.

Online, a frequently circulated saying claims that "there are no good women over 50 kilograms (110 pounds)", while recent social media challenges have women squeezing into children's clothes or showing off the coins they can stack on their collarbones.

Yao makes fashionable, high-end clothing for plus-size women, offering a vibrant contrast to the poorly cut offerings in "slimming" dark colors.

"I want my customers to have clothes that express who they are inside, rather than soulless pieces that exist only to make them look thinner," the 35-year-old told AFP.

Yao said that when it comes to clothing, most Chinese retailers focus on smaller sizes and "think that larger people don't need fashion and don't need beautiful clothes."

"But we have work, we have families, we have respectable lives, and we also need some fancy clothes sometimes."

To promote her online store, Yao posts pictures of her outfits on the Instagram-like Xiaohongshu app. She often sports leggings and tight-fitting workout tops, which she wears to climb the hills near her office.

"Reject body anxiety," Yao, who openly talks about weighing 100 kilograms, wrote in one post to her more than 15,000 followers.

"So, what if I wear a strappy top and have big arms?"

This photo taken on November 14, 2024 shows plus-size clothing brand owner and influencer Amanda Yao inspecting clothes in her office in Guangzhou, in China’s southern Guangdong province. Surrounded by racks of colourful dresses and blazers in China's manufacturing hub of Guangzhou, plus-size clothing brand owner and influencer Amanda Yao is on a mission to promote body positivity.Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP

Embracing color

Yao began selling plus-size clothing four years ago after returning to China from the United Kingdom, where she had worked for several years.

"I found it especially hard to buy clothing here," she told AFP.

Items ordered online often did not match sellers' photos, and Yao grew sick of "very ugly clothes."

This month, in her Guangzhou office and showroom, Yao showed off a Chinese-style pink silk jacket from her brand, Yue Design, while modeling a bright green cardigan and skirt set.

"I never post photos of myself wearing black online," Yao said.

By avoiding the traditionally recommended color for larger women, she has also encouraged some customers to embrace brighter, more cheerful designs.

While clothing options for plus-size shoppers remain limited, some Chinese brands have become more inclusive in recent years.

Lingerie brand Neiwai and loungewear company An Action A Day have featured larger models in their ads, though most of their items are only for women up to 70 kilograms.

This photo taken on November 14, 2024 shows workers sewing clothing at the workshop of plus-size clothing brand owner and influencer Amanda Yao in Guangzhou, in China’s southern Guangdong province. Surrounded by racks of colourful dresses and blazers in China's manufacturing hub of Guangzhou, plus-size clothing brand owner and influencer Amanda Yao is on a mission to promote body positivity. Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP

Body scrutiny

Aside from Yao, other influencers in China have found an audience eager for their posts about self-acceptance and photos of themselves enjoying clothing and food despite the pressure to diet.

On Xiaohongshu, the hashtag "reject body anxiety" appears in nearly 200,000 posts.

However, this is still a marked deviation from most body image content on Chinese social media.

One recent popular format involves someone posting a photo of themselves and asking viewers for makeover tips.

These posts often draw extreme scrutiny from commenters, who pick on people for flaws as specific as having a square jaw rather than the "ideal" pointed chin.

With constant exposure to idealized body types, people "start to conflate the meaning of their own worth with what they look like," Stephanie Ng, who runs Hong Kong-based mental health organization Body Banter, told AFP.

That has dangerous consequences, including extreme dieting and eating disorders, Ng said.

There is little official data on eating disorders in China. Still, the prominent Shanghai Mental Health Center reported an increase from eight such patients in 2002 to 3,000 in 2021, according to state broadcaster CGTN.

Even though Yao has built a loyal following, her posts can also attract cruel comments.

"Daring to post an ugly photo showing your ring-shaped torso fat doesn't equal confidence," one commenter wrote under one of Yao's workout posts.

She told AFP that the criticism has only made her more determined.

"I want to help self-hatred women look at themselves in a new way," she said.