The first to be signed under IMG Models’ new “Brawn” division, 26-year-old Zach Miko has become the first-ever plus-sized male model in an industry where the average waist size ranges between 28 and 30 inches, while the average American man has a 39-inch waist.
Since getting his big break as Target’s first plus-sized male model in 2015, the six-foot-six native of Stratford, Connecticut has been making international news, headlining such publications as The Guardian, GQ and Women’s Wear Daily while shining light on the lack of variety in the world of male modeling. With a 42-inch waist, he’s become a role model for men around the world who feel unrepresented in mainstream fashion media, and thanks to his rugged good looks and status as an Internet sensation he has an incredible platform with which to continue boosting his modeling career and this milestone moment in men’s fashion.
An advocate for body positivity, a trailblazer in Big and Tall style and one half of the acclaimed musical comedy duo called “The Dreamstalks,” Zach Miko represents the new face of male modeling, and during a recent chat he was able to share with us a few thoughts on his personal style, life since being signed with IMG Models and what “Brawn” means to him.
Paste: Congratulations on being signed to IMG’s new “Brawn” division. For many, you (and your work with Target last year) symbolize what can only be viewed as the beginning of a necessary shift in male modeling. What would you say to that? How do you think the introduction of the “Brawn” division will affect the fashion world at large?
Zach Miko: Thank you! I am so honored, grateful, humbled, just so many overwhelmed emotions. Modeling and fashion is a world that felt unavailable to me growing up, I always admired it from afar but felt like I could never truly take part. Brawn is a dream come true for me and I hope for more guys like me, big and small, who felt unrepresented. Fashion should be for everyone, and I hope with the introduction of Brawn we can finally open the doors to the personal style and self worth that felt unattainable for so many of us for so long.
Paste: Life has probably been a whirlwind of events for you since modeling for Target last year. Can you tell us a bit about what’s happened to you since then?
Miko: Oh jeez, it’s been nuts! Since I started modeling I feel like I’ve been on every fashion blog in the world, newspapers, TV, everywhere. I have fans! I have fans that aren’t my wife and my mom. After the ball started rolling I was contacted by Ivan Bart, president of IMG models, on Instagram and signed as their first Brawn man in history. My Instagram followers jumped up to over 58,000. I’ve seen celebrities compliment me, and even the mailman knows my name; it has been totally surreal and wonderful.
Paste: Why do you think you have had such a positive effect on people?
Miko: I think people of size, like me, have felt marginalized growing up. We grow up looking at traditional models and feeling like because we don’t look like that we are not of value for some reason and not attractive. It took me a long time to change my way of thinking and realize that this standard of beauty I was sold for so long is just ridiculous. Beauty isn’t a box you have to fit in; everyone is beautiful, individuality is beauty. I think when people start to see different body types in mainstream fashion and media for the first time is just such a wonderful form of validation. It’s the beginning of society saying, “We love you for who you are and not who we think you should be.”
Paste: Do you think we will be seeing more “Brawn” models in the future?
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