Meet Natasha Wagner, who according to America’s denim industry, has a perfect sized butt. With a height of five feet eight inches and a 28-inch waist, her size 6 figure makes her the most coveted ‘live mannequin’ to create what popular denim brands believe to be the perfect pair of jeans.
So for the past 14 years, the 34-year-old fit model has been making a living trying on jeans for big brands like Gap, Lucky Brand, Old Navy, Levi’s, Paige, Vince, and more. Believe it or not, these brands have been making jeans to fit just one person – Natasha!
According to Jennifer De Clark, senior director of women’s design and merchandising at 7 For All Mankind, Natasha’s bottom is the perfect average of thin and curvy women. “Natasha’s curves are in all the right places,” she said. “And having perfect proportions is the key to a great jean that will fit many different body types. She is the perfect size 28!”
Photo: 7 For All Mankind
Julien Jarmoune, a designer for Black Orchid, agrees. “Natasha has the perfect marriage of body types,” she explained. “Because if you fit with someone who is too curvy (tiny waist, big butt), or with someone who has a straight body (no hips), you are limiting yourself to just a certain body type. A jean that is fit on a straight body will never look good on someone who has curves. That’s why Natasha comes into play perfectly. She has the best of both worlds where she’s slim and she still has shape. Additionally, she has great legs that are the perfect length (she fits our standard 30-inch leg inseam flawlessly) so that our jeans will work for someone who is short or tall.”
Photo: 7 For All Mankind
Like most other people, Natasha never knew about fit modelling as a profession before she stumbled into it by chance. She happened to model at an agency when she was in college, and they took her measurements because they were curious about her frame. Word got around and six months later, a popular denim brand called her in for a fitting. There was no looking back after that.
“I kind of felt like I had won the lottery with my measurements because they were exactly what these companies were requesting,” she said. Today, Natasha owns a fit modelling agency of her own, aptly named ‘In Demand’.
Photo: 7 For All Mankind
According to an article in Vogue, “Wagner has completely flipped the idea of ‘being average’ on its head.” It states that while the fashion industry is obsessed with the perfect hair, body, and style, “her 28-inch waist is celebrated for the fact that it sits squarely in the middle of the industry’s standard jean-size range, which usually starts at a 24 and ends at a 32.”
“If you fit jeans on a very small size, a size 24, the model is going to be very thin and not have a lot of butt and not give the pattern any shape, which would flatten the bottom of a size 32 customer,” Natasha revealed. “So if you start in the middle, my size, it means the jeans will fit almost anyone in that range.”
Photo: Inside Edition
Having tried on jeans for nearly a decade and a half, Natasha is now an expert of sorts on denim fits, measurements, specs, and other details. So apart from trying on jeans, she also helps designers out with her expertise. “She has a complete understanding of what makes a jean fit,” said Re/Done co-founder Sean Barron.
“What sets Natasha apart is her know-how,” agreed Citizens of Humanity founder Jerome Dahan. “We can work together to create fits.”
Photo: 7 For All Mankind
And according to Paige Denim founder Paige Adams-Geller, Natasha has “the perfect balance of chiming in when necessary to give her opinion on a style or silhouette and standing back enough to let our design team do the job.”
Natasha, who herself owns over 100 pairs of jeans, said that a great diet and regular exercise have helped her maintain her size 6 form over the years. “I’m definitely thin but curvy,” she said. “Some of my clients have said I have all the curves in the right places. I think it’s perfectly imperfect. It’s perfect for what I do for my job.”
