Alexandra Shulman of British Vogue once called for 'healthier' models. Her prayers have been answered in the form of plus-size supermodel of the moment Crystal Renn - and her curvy figure and gorgeous bone structure. Since last fashion-week season, Renn has been causing a storm in the industry by defying everything it has ever 'stood' for, proving that models of all shapes and sizes should be allowed to share a piece of the action.

With all her success since she stopped starving herself to be a 'straight-sized' clothes horse, one can hardly believe how far she has come. In an interview with the Eric Wilson of the New York Times yesterday, Renn candidly bares all about life at the start of her career. Reading from her book, Hungry, Wilson shares an excerpt showing the realities of the industry: "By 2002, when she moved to New York at age 15, she weighted 95 pounds and had lost more than 42% of her body weight. On her first day in the city, she landed a shoot for Seventeen."

Times clearly are changing. Open a magazine now, and you will quite possibly find a Renn or Lizzie Miller smiling back at you. And with all the attention V magazine's 'size' issue has received in the past couple of months, it looks like the industry is ready to try something new. Renn however, sincerely hopes that this new era is not a flash in the pan. "When designers and editors choose one fat girl to salivate over and revel in her, I'm not sure how much it advances the cause of using girls of all sizes in a magazine."

Perhaps she's simply being a little cautious and/or sceptical, but given that Stephen Gan, the legendary creative director behind magazines such as Harper's Bazaar and Visionaire, personally told Renn that "You're not big," surely this is a step in the right direction?