Alva Claire, Precious Lee, and Jill Kortleve Stomped the Under-the-Sea-Themed Runway at Versace.

There are a few notable firsts this Milan&nbsp;fashion week, operating under a pandemic for one, but also&nbsp;progress for one of its greatest faults: the lack of diversity. Just earlier this year, Paloma Elsesser and Jill Kortleve became the first plus-sized models to walk Fendi in the house&#39;s history. And just earlier last week, Italian luxury house Versace hit that very same milestone with not one, but three plus-sized models, casting&nbsp;Alva Claire, Precious Lee,&nbsp;and Jill Kortleve alongside their regular mainstays that includes&nbsp;Joan Smalls and Irina Shayk.

For both Lee and Claire, the Versace Spring/Summer 2021 show marked their Milan debuts while&nbsp; for Kortleve, it was her third show after walking Etro and Fendi. For the show, the models were&nbsp;clad in Donatella Versace&#39;s&nbsp;finest underwater wear, a&nbsp;colourful interpretation of what mermaid folk must wear to go out dancing.&nbsp;

Casted by industy vet Piergiorgio del Moro, the trio&#39;s apperance comes at a time when many are reconsidering the long-held conventions of the runway. &quot;It&rsquo;s so unbelievable to work for brands I always dreamt of working for,&quot;&nbsp;Kortleve wrote on her <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CFkzem_AO2k/">Instagram</a>. &quot;I hope that we open the doors for a new generation with the same dreams but who never saw themselves in the magazines or the commercials.&quot; 
 
Since the designer&#39;s&nbsp;tribute to her late brother in 2017 with the five supers (Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and Claudia Schiffer), Versace has made a habit of runway surprises as of late. A year ago, Jennifer Lopez reprised her Internet-defining Grammys dress for Versace&#39;s jungle themed-runway, and others like Emily Ratajkowski and Stephanie Seymour have lent themselves to recent catwalk cameos.

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Alva Claire

&quot;VERSACE SS21 !!!!I&rsquo;m so emotional writing this, to walk for the iconic Versace has always been a huge dream of mine!! I am so proud of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/preciousleexoxo/" tabindex="0">@preciousleexoxo</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/jilla.tequila/" tabindex="0">@jilla.tequila</a>&nbsp;and myself we made history with this and I will never forget how I feel right now! This moment is for all of us!!! I&rsquo;m full of love!!&quot;

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Precious Lee&nbsp;

&quot;Anybody that knows me or ever spoke to me about fashion know without a doubt how I feel about The House of Versace. It&rsquo;s ALWAYS been about&nbsp;Versace&nbsp;for me. Queen&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/donatella_versace/" tabindex="0">@donatella_versace</a>&nbsp;your support and love right now for me is just magical. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for raising the bar. I know how much this means and I will always cherish it. Not one little black girl can say they can&rsquo;t because we can, we always could and when you stay true, you will✨💪🏾✨ &quot;

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&nbsp;

Jill Kortleve

&quot;This is such an historical moment and I can&rsquo;t believe it actually happened. Im still shaking. Im so so so proud of us&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/alvaclaire/" tabindex="0">@alvaclaire</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/preciousleexoxo/" tabindex="0">@preciousleexoxo</a>&nbsp;.It&rsquo;s so unbelievable to work for brands I always dreamt of working for. I hope that we open the doors for a new generation with the same dreams but who never saw themselves in the magazines or the commercials.&quot;

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Three Plus-Size Models Made History At Milan Fashion Week

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