People model lingerie in Times Square to challenge body stereotypes perpetuated by Victoria's Secret

For those who are tired of the Victoria’s Secret’s definition of fantasy, there’s a real runway to root for with models of all sizes, races and genders.

Khrystyana Kazakova, a former America’s Next Top Model contestant and body-positive activist, created the Real Catwalk to challenge the industry standards for body types that normally dominate runways and provide alternative images of beauty.

“I know that people may feel discouraged about their beauty after watching the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, so I wanted to create a balance of seeing sexy, bold, fantastic individuals that look more like them,” says Kazakova, 33, who put out an open call for models of all ages, genders, races and sizes to join her in New York City for a guerrilla-style fashion show. “If anyone felt like they couldn’t be on the runway, this is the runway for them.”

The day before the 2018 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show aired on ABC, more than 200 lingerie-clad models descended on Times Square to strut down the streets with Kazakova. Models included curvy girls, trans women, cisgendered men, individuals living with disabilities, and even some moms.

“At the core, the Real Catwalk is the journey of self-love and confidence. I want the person who felt not good enough or not pretty enough — I want them to feel the opposite. That they are enough and that they are beautiful,” says the body-positive activist. “Everybody deserves to be celebrated.”

Kazakova started the Real Catwalk in December 2017 with just herself walking the streets of New York. While this year’s VS Fashion Show hit an all-time low of just 3.3 million viewers, the Real Catwalk has grown into a national and global movement thanks to social media, with inclusive catwalks being staged in Boston, Dallas and London. The Dec. 1 Real Catwalk was even sponsored by progressive fashion brands like King Size, Woman Within, Swimsuits for All, and Roaman’s who provided clothes for all the models who strut down the urban runway.

For Jari Jones, a black trans-femme curvy model and creative, the Real Catwalk was more than just a “gathering of beautiful bodies,” she says. “It’s an act of resistance.”

“It sent out an alarm that a change is coming. What we deem as beautiful, what we deem as attractive, what we deem as worthy is changing for the better,” says Jones, who opened the show as a strong act of defiance after Ed Razek, chief marketing officer of VS parent company L Brands, said that trans individuals didn’t fit into the lingerie brand’s definition of “fantasy.”

“Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should,” Razek said in an interview with Teen Vogue. “ Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy.”

Jones’s response to Razek’s comments? Cut off your wings — “Who isn’t part of the fantasy?”

“I want to be the beautiful black, trans, plus woman representing as a symbol of light for my communities,” says Jones. “I never had that representation growing up, so I don’t want any young girls or women —black, plus or trans — to go without that in this lifetime. They deserve to see themselves being loved, being respected and being celebrated.”

“Just because the media is very specific about beauty standards, it doesn’t mean that that’s the only beauty out there,” adds Kazakova. “There are all kinds of beauty out there, and I hope people who call the shots own the responsibility on how they can affect girls, boys and nonbinary people out there.”