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Last week at Fashion Week it was announced that the Council of Fashion Designers of America had convened -- along with fashion editors and models -- to debate whether to raise the sample size on the runways from size 0 to size 4, after Coco Rocha, a 5-foot-10 size-4 model admitted she'd taken diuretics to diet down to size, after being called "fat," reports the New York Daily News today.

The industry also lost Carolina Reston of Brazil, who weighed in at a scant 88 lbs. when she died of anorexia in 2006.

But at the symposium, the fashion world, in a word, said, "No." Sample sizes would remain a size 0, and any model who wanted to walk the runway should find a way to fit in them. But there's one woman in fashion who has decidedly different ideas.

Deb Malkin is the owner of the Brooklyn women's clothing store Re/Dress, a resale and vintage shop stocking sizes 14 to 32, along with the country's largest selection of vintage plus-size clothing. Last week, the boutique made waves (nationwide) by announcing their search for America's first plus-size top model. The store kicked off a competition inviting women to apply to walk their runway, as long as they were at least a size 18.

Kate Moss naked never created this much of a stir. The competition was picked up by newspapers, started a firestorm on Google, and we called Malkin, the woman who started it all, to find out how she feels about the messages high fashion is sending to women of all sizes ...

Lemondrop: What made you decide to open Re/Dress?
Deb Malkin: I wanted to create a store I wanted to shop in. I love vintage clothing, and I love the idea of resale clothing, but none of the stores in New York City carried clothes that would fit me. There is a lot of really amazing plus-size clothing available online, but what I felt like plus-size women were missing was that in-person shopping experience.

What do you stock that other clothing stores don't?
We have everything from Target clothes to Marina Rinaldi. We really run the gamut in terms of price and style. Our vintage selection starts at a size 10 because there are a lot of women who are left out of the vintage shopping scene.

The Daily News said that business at Re/Dress is booming, despite the recession. Kudos!
Resale shopping has become more popular because of the recession -- people want more for their money, and it's very affordable.

How do your customers feel about the store?
People love it. We hear people laughing and giggling and talking about how much they love the store in the dressing room ... there's just a lot of gratitude; I think women feel it's really exciting ... Women come back every week to look at the new arrivals racks.

How you do you feel about the treatment of plus-size women by the media?
There's more positive visibility, which I'm really excited about, with women's own voices being heard, with blogs and online. I think there's a conversation going on rather than a blanket demonizing, and we're definitely seeing more diversity in the modeling world. But at the same time there is an unending amount of misleading reporting and imagery of headless, fat people in the news.

How do you feel about the treatment of plus-size women in society?
Plus size women are the majority in society, and we have brilliant careers, we fall in love, we have families, and we do everything everyone else does, except we are constantly being told that we can't actually do those things. The thing that makes me saddest is that we're under attack all the time, and a lot of it is about the diet industry making money. But diets don't work, what, 95 percent of the time? I think that's a proven statistic, but the diet industry counts on nobody criticizing the diet but instead criticizing themselves, and they pay for another year at Weight Watchers or another Jenny Craig program. These corporations aren't making women feel good about themselves ... No one is really selling self-love.

How did you conceive the idea for the plus-size model search? What are you most excited about?
I needed some pictures to represent my store and to use for advertising. I could have hired a photographer and a model, but I thought, Why don't we open this up and see what kinds of fresh faces are out there?

Why did you decide to start the model search with size 18s?
A lot of the times, modeling agencies won't have models above size 18 because the advertiser doesn't want to hire them. So if there's no work, the agencies don't want to take on these plus-size models. What I want to say is that I'm the client, and these models represent my business, and I'd love to have a model size 18 and above. My clothing starts at a 12 and goes up to a 32. Eighteen is my average.

It seems that whenever there is discussion in the media of empowering plus-size women, there's some pushback about encouraging unhealthy lifestyles.
I have to say, I subscribe to the Health at Every Size movement and I don't believe that the number on the scale necessarily indicates the state of someone's health. There's a bias against larger people because there's a lot of misinformation about size and health.

Last but not least, how can women sign up to enter the model search?
Women should send in two to three photos online, and the competition also includes an essay contest because we want the woman who is going to represent my company to have a positive attitude about her size and pass that on to other women. We'll pick a winner in the beginning of March. All info is at www.redressnyc.com. Send everything here.

Liz Funk is a freelance writer, author and speaker who focuses on young women's wellness. Her first book, "Supergirls Speak Out: Inside the Secret Crisis of Overachieving Girls," was published last year by Simon and Schuster.