Australian model Belle Lucia, who’s seven months pregnant, has blasted the fashion industry for using fake bumps — and says she’s lost jobs since becoming pregnant.
The 24-year-old, originally from Sydney but now living in London, says she was excited to shoot maternity wear when she found out she was expecting.
But after seven months she is yet to be booked to model maternity — and has even lost out on other opportunities because of her blossoming bump.
‘When I first became pregnant as a model I thought “great I can still keep working and mainly do maternity modelling” but I’m currently seven months pregnant and haven’t shot any maternity shoots so far,’ she told Jam Press.
Australian model Belle Lucia who’s seven months pregnant has proudly shared a candid picture of herself showing her visible veins on her chest – as fans quickly praised her for not photoshopping herself while pregnant
‘I do feel that if a pregnant model is available then they should be prioritised over a fake bump because they are genuinely pregnant which is more authentic to customers.’
The social media influencer was previously praised by fans for showcasing the ‘reality’ of an expectant mother’s body on Instagram.
‘I know I got a veiny chest,’ she said in the caption, alongside a snap of her in a bikini.
‘Happens because your blood volume increases by 50 per cent when pregnant and they go away after pregnancy when your blood volume returns.’
Her post was quickly met with positive comments, with many people praising her for not digitally editing herself while pregnant.
The lid was previously lifted on the fashion industry’s use of fake bumps on non-pregnant models after a fan noticed an Asos maternity model looked like Love Island’s Arabella Chi
The 24-year-old, originally from Sydney but now lives in London, has been sparking debate over her seemingly tiny baby bump in recent months (pictured at six months pregnant)
‘Thank you for not photoshopping! Your pregnancy is beautiful and so are the side effects,’ one commented.
Another said: ‘So inspirational, especially that you’re not photoshopping and putting makeup over your chest to hide veins or anything of the kind! Natural mum beauty is the best.’
And one said: ‘I love how you show and don’t edit your veins. You are flawless!’
The lid was previously lifted on the fashion industry’s use of fake bumps on models after a fan noticed an ASOS maternity model looked like Love Island’s Arabella Chi.
The debate was sparked by twitter user @charlottewheatx who noticed the resemblance between the photos on the ASOS website and Arabella, 28, who is a professional model. It is not thought she has ever been pregnant.
Arabella (pictured) made a dramatic entry into the ITV2 programme, Love Island, before being dumped from the island
Charlotte’s post racked up more than 5,000 likes and 800 retweets, with plenty of Twitter users blasting the fashion firm
She said in a post: ‘So Arabella does maternity modelling? False advertising. Glorifying and representing pregnancy in a false manner.
‘If ASOS don’t hire or employ pregnant models then there’s not much point in having a maternity section. It may also give parents false expectations of what clothes look like.’
Charlotte’s post racked up more than 5,000 likes and 800 retweets, with plenty of Twitter users blasting the fashion firm.
However, others have defended ASOS, pointing out that it is impractical to expect heavily pregnant women to stand and model for long periods of time
One user tweeted: ‘I bought maternity stuff from ASOS and even now when we talk about pregnancy (a year on) I tell people how I had huge arms when pregnant!
‘Bet my arms were blooming normal, it’s just the ASOS maternity models weren’t pregnant.’
Another said: ‘It is shocking, have they also increased the size of her breasts which happens to most women during pregnancy?
However, others have defended ASOS, pointing out that it is impractical to expect heavily pregnant women to stand and model for long periods of time.
One individual tweeted: ‘ASOS shoot thousands of items per day; it’s the most intensive e-commerce client for models.
ASOS did not confirm whether Arabella Chi was the model in the clothing range, but did confirm they use ‘prosthetic maternity bumps’.
A spokesman said: ‘I can confirm that we use prosthetic maternity bumps. This is to make it easier for customers to compare fit between different products.’
Belle – who’s expecting her first child – said she has been oiling herself ‘religiously’ to prevent stretch marks during her pregnancy (pictured at 25 weeks pregnant)
It comes just a week after Belle shared another bikini photo, this time in a black two-piece (left), that received similar disbelieving comments
Last month, Belle was forced to defend the size of her growing belly after posting a sultry bikini snap on the beach – with hardly a baby bump in sight.
‘Beach and bump’ she captioned a photo of herself wearing a white bikini in Spain.
The comments from fans ranged from ‘Are you for real pregnant?’ to ‘If I didn’t read the caption, I would not have thought you were pregnant at all’.
‘This is my bump when not pregnant,’ one person said.
‘I just ate dinner and literally look like that,’ another added.
Belle was quick to tell everyone she’s ‘measuring big’ at this stage and she isn’t concerned about her appearance.
Belle, who is an avid reader of her comments, was quick to tell everyone she’s ‘measuring big’ at this stage and she isn’t concerned about her appearance
‘There is no ‘normal’ when it comes to bumps. I have many friends who are in the same week as me, it’s their first baby and all their bumps look different,’ she said.
‘I guess I am showing smaller than the average but it doesn’t mean too much, as long as baby is healthy.’
It comes just a week after Belle shared another bikini photo, this time in a black two-piece, that received similar disbelieving comments.
‘Maybe you’re not even pregnant,’ one person said.
Previously, Belle has shared a photo to prove that all woman carry a child differently.
‘Here’s more women the same week as me. As you can see women show very differently but are all carrying a little life,’ she said.
‘Just because I’m not showing as much as you like doesn’t mean my pregnancy is ‘unhealthy’ or that I’m promoting a ‘skinny’ pregnancy,’ she said.
‘It’s just my body and I can’t help if it doesn’t look the same as other women. Body shaming is not okay no matter how ‘big’ or ‘small’ someone is.’
In a separate photo she addressed some of the more tedious side effects of growing a baby.
An Australian model and Instagram influencer has announced she’s four months pregnant (pictured), but was forced to delete an ultrasound video because of ‘rude and creepy’ people
Belle Lucia, 24, who is currently in London but usually resides in Sydney, posted a sweet photo of herself with her boyfriend sharing the joyous news with her 1.3 million followers
Not everything has been smooth sailing for the young mother-to-be.
In a separate photo she addressed some of the more tedious side effects of growing a baby.
‘Don’t get me wrong, I did experience morning sickness and breast pain and definitely a lot of anxiety in the beginning because of the fear of miscarriage (I had no idea how common they were) but I’ve learnt to embrace everything – the downs and ups,’ she wrote.
In April Belle announced her pregnancy just after the 12 week mark.
‘So 1 + 1 really does equal 3? Mum + Dad #comingsoon #4monthspregnant #librababylikeme #stillmodelling P.s Not April fools. It’s the 2nd here in the UK,’ she captioned the image.
Belle decided to supplement her good news post by uploading an ultrasound video on her Instagram Stories, but deleted it shortly after.
‘Had to delete my ultrasound video because people were being rude and creepy,’ she said.
It was likely she was receiving inappropriate direct messages about the video, but these were not published online.