British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful says size zero is no longer the ideal body type in the fashion world

• British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful says size zero isn't the ideal body type any more.
• Speaking on the "River Cafe Table 4" podcast, Enninful said the industry has become more inclusive.

British Vogue editor-in-chief, Edward Enninful says the idea that people in the fashion industry don't eat is not true.

Speaking on Tuesday's episode of the "River Cafe Table 4" podcast, the 49-year-old fashion mogul told chef and host Ruthie Rogers that the industry has become more inclusive.

"There's a misconception that fashion people don't eat, but that's not true," he said, acknowledging that historically the fashion industry has equated being thin with being fashionable.

Enninful said this has shifted in the years since he was appointed as Alexandra Schulman's successor in 2017.

"When you look at, at least, my Vogue anyway, everybody's welcome. All shapes, all sizes, all colors," he said. He added that looking in other magazines today, he can see that "everybody's all so welcoming" in their approach to body diversity.

"That strict thing of not being able to be a certain size, 'being size zero is the perfect size,' that doesn't exist anymore," Enninful added, speaking of changing beauty ideals.

"Even the idea of being a model has changed," he continued. "You can be short, you can be curvy, you can be disabled."

Asked by Rogers whether the industry has struggled to change, Enninful said it wasn't difficult for designers to move towards more inclusive sizing after realizing that they have "missed out on a whole market."

Still, Enninful said, the fashion world is changing "slowly" and "it's not perfect," adding that the Black Lives Matter movement has made companies realize "they have to hire people from diverse backgrounds behind the scenes."

"Conversations that are being had now never would have been had about 10 years ago," he continued.

British Vogue has been criticized for its lack of diversity in the past

During Schulman's 25-year tenure as editor-in-chief of British Vogue, the magazine had featured 12 Black cover stars, according to The Guardian.

Naomi Campbell was among those calling out the magazine's lack of racial diversity. In 2017, The Guardian reported that the model shared an Instagram photo of Schulman's staff — who were predominantly white — and wrote in the caption that she was "looking forward to an inclusive and diverse staff now that @edward_enninful is the editor."

Responding to Campbell's criticism at the time in an interview with The Guardian, Schulman said her "chief remit was not to show ethnic diversity as a policy," adding that she believed this would lead to a decrease in sales.

Months after Enninful's appointment, British Vogue made a statement about the evolving fashion industry with its May 2018 cover. Entitled "New Frontiers: the models changing the face of fashion," it featured nine cover stars of varying sizes and skin tones and included Halima Aden, the first model to wear a hijab on the magazine's cover.

Representatives for Edward Enninful and British Vogue did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.