Via: Modeling-blog.modeling.net
And the battle of the bulge (or lack thereof, rather) wages on...
In less than a month, Fashion Week descends upon New York, and I'll be backstage jockeying with all of the other journalists to get an interview with top beauty makers. Also backstage: Those gorgeous models that seem to illicit both admiration and disgust from a world confused over weight issues.
The latest controversy to be stirred up on behalf of said models: It was announced today that London Fashion Week will NOT be upholding the proposed "size-0 ban" that would require all models to submit a "health certificate," proclaiming they are psychologically fit and healthy enough to hit the runways running. The idea is to keep too-skinny models from gracing the catwalks. Seems like a step in the right direction, correct? Well—not if you're a fashion industry insider! Those on the inside just can't seem to get it in their heads that robust, curvy models could help shape the minds of young women everywhere—they don't understand that the fashion world needs to project a healthier ideal.
The reasoning for London's refusal? Cost, of course! Hilary Riva of the British Fashion Council posted an open letter on the council's website (via msnbc.com) stating that because Milan, NY and Paris wouldn't be imposing such a ban, London shouldn't have to either. Milan, NY and Paris all said that forcing models to undergo medical exams was both costly and intrusive, and Riva says, "From our conversations with our international counterparts in New York, Milan and Paris, it has become clear that they do not recognize the need for an international health certificate." Which is all quite peculiar, seeing that only a few short weeks ago, the Council of Fashion Designers of America held a much lauded meeting regarding weight issues for models and the impact that being too thin has had on the industry. But, here's the reality: The Council of Fashion Designers of America has said it did not believe medical exams benefits models. In 2007, it adopted a voluntary health policy, recommending that models under 16 not be used in runway shows, educating the industry about the early signs of eating disorders and having models get professional help if needed. The key word there is "voluntary." And we all know that if you have an eating disorder, you ain't going to volunteer that information any time soon. It's like a cursed little secret. And if you're a designer that doesn't give a hoot about the models' health and only about how great your clothes look on a human hanger, you're not going to impose this "voluntary" health policy. So, really, the CFDA is just blowing smoke up everyone's behind. Let's be honest.
I am of the mind that some models who are size 0s are naturally skinny—you have to remember, some of these girls are 13 to 17 years of age and have yet to fill out. Look at Gerren Taylor. Who's Gerren Taylor, you may ask? Well, she was a top model at age 12—I saw her backstage with her mom at one of the first fashion shows I ever attended. People magazine just profiled her meteoric rise to catwalk fame at 12, and her eventual demise at 15—all because somebody told her she was too big. At 12, she was what the industry deemed a perfect size. In the just-released documentary, America the Beautiful, Taylor is followed over the course of five years. Caught on film: At age 14, Taylor sprouted. Suddenly, she was 6 feet tall and a size 4. The story quotes the documentarian who filmed her, Darryl Roberts, as saying, "In Paris, they told her she was 2.8 inches too big in her hips." The People story also reports that a French agent sucks in her cheeks and chides Gerren to be "more like zhis!" Word spread that Taylor had a "fit problem." Her career ended. No more jobs.
Let's reflect: She was 6 feet tall and a size 4. By no means did she have a fit problem. BUT...she had a fit problem for the fashion industry, because as model Coco Rocha notes, the fit models used to make the clothes are size 0s, so the models feel like they need to be a size 0 as well. Rocha relates that it is embarrassing for a model when she is being fitted for a show and the zipper won't budge shut. This happens all too often. And that's what leads already-skinny models to resort to drastic measures, such as purging, laxatives, in Rocha's case diuretics, and starvation.
So, yes, there are naturally skinny models, but there are also those models who feel the unending pressure to be ever more thinner. Model agents constantly tell their girls to lose weight—after all, it's the skinny girls that get the jobs (open any magazine, and you'll see that advertisements very rarely feature a size 4 gal). And some of these girls take the unhealthily route because, well, it's the quickest route.
The weight debate will continue to wage on. I doubt many strides will be made any time soon. After all, the fashion industry is about smoke and mirrors, for the most part. Holding meetings that purport to make changes regarding weight issues is really just a facade. It's just too look like progress is being made, when, in reality, everything stays the same.
