Are runway models too skinny?
There has been a lot of talk lately about how skinny models are becoming, especially after H&M revealed that their online models are created from computerized images with real models’ heads.
Moreover, Karlie Kloss’ photos in Italian Vogue stirred some controversy last week.
Franca Sozzani, Vogue Italia editor, defended the photos. She claims that they are not photoshopped, and Kloss (19 years old) is not anorexic and has a muscular body. She posted the message here: http://www.vogue.it/en/magazine/editor-s-blog/2011/12/december-12nd
Skinny figures did not become popular until the 1960’s. That is when Twiggy, as well as Jean Shrimpton, (pictured above) popularized the slim, boyish figure. Twiggy was 5’6” and 91 lbs when she was modeling.
In the 80’s, Cindy Crawford, Brooke Shields, and Christie Brinkley (pictured above) had a more toned and fit look and were the popular models of that decade. Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington continued the fit, curvy trend into the beginning of the 90’s. However, not long after that, the heroin chic look became the new trend in models. Kate Moss made this waif look popular with her 5’7” and 100 lb figure, and it seems that the fashion industry has been pushing for skinnier and skinnier models ever since. These days it’s expected for models to have a 23” waist, and since they are often 5’10” and about 110 lbs, this means a BMI of about 16. In the 60’s, models weighed 8% less than the average woman; now they weigh 23% less. Both eating disorders and obesity are on the rise.
A standard designer sample is a size 0 to 4, so in the modeling industry, any model over a size 6 is generally considered plus size. However, plus size clothing in stores starts at size 14 or 16. Most designer collections run up to a size 10 or 12, even though the average American woman’s dress size is 14.
Why have so many of us changed our views of what we find beautiful?
Even though the shows at NYFW are beautiful, it’s often disturbing to see some of the models changing and getting ready backstage because they are so thin.
The 3 photos below are of Ukrainian model Nataliya Gotsiy. She claims (as reported by NYMag) that she was singled out by CNN (there was a special about models and eating disorders) and “nobody cares, they just take a name and put a lot of shit. We’re going out, we’re having dinners, everybody’s eating, there’s no anorexia in this business!”
Models often talk about how much they eat, and it’s probably because they’re afraid of losing work. Most of these girls eat very little. Backstage at NYFW, the most I see them eating are the little non-fat plain frozen kefirs that are given out for free (and very few models are seen eating these). Many of them smoke a lot too. When model Marvy Rieder was asked if models are open about restricting food, she told NYMag: “They hide it by saying, ‘I just ate so much at home, I’m not hungry anymore.’ I’ve heard it a million times.”
At 5’10”, model Sabrina Hunter was expected to be “115 or lower, preferably.” After she signed with an American agency, she was given a choice: lose weight or gain and be a plus size model. After trying to gain unsuccessfully, she went the opposite direction, eating 600 calories and jogging five miles a day. “It made me extremely moody and depressed. And I looked it, in the face. But that’s how all the models look,” she says.
There are many models with eating disorders. Luisel Ramos from Uruguay had been told by a modeling agency that she could make it big if she lost a “significant” amount of weight. She died of heart failure caused by anorexia on the catwalk during a fashion show in 2006. After her death, Madrid Fashion Week set a minimum BMI of 18 for all models. Milan followed and set a minimum BMI of 18.5 for all models. Luisel’s sister, model Eliana Ramos, died in 2007 after restricting herself to a similar diet of lettuce leaves and Diet Coke. Also in 2006, Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston died weighing 88 lbs and 5’8” (pictured below).
In 2001, model Leila Pahlavi died of a prescription drug and cocaine overdose at the age of 31 after her body had become emaciated by years of anorexia and bulimia. In 2010, French model Isabelle Caro died at age 28. She admitted that she was anorexic and appeared in a controversial advertising campaign “No Anorexia.” She weighed just 55 lbs at a height of 5’5”.
Although some girls are naturally very skinny and healthy, many girls are not, especially as they get older, and they are pressured into being unhealthy just so that they can be as thin as possible. Sara Ziff’s documentary “Picture Me” looks at the inner world of modeling. Vogue cover model Amy Lemons was told by her agent to eat one rice cake a day in order to keep her weight down (and she was 17 years old at the time). If that didn’t work, she was supposed to eat only half a rice cake. She had also seen girls dipping cotton balls in juice and eating them to feel somewhat full and keep their weight down.
Some designers dispute that they are solely to blame for models’ weight issues. “I think we’re all to blame,” said Michael Vollbracht, the designer of Bill Blass. “I’m very aware of these girls who look too thin or unhealthy, and at one point during the casting I had to walk out of the room. We called a model’s agency and said, ‘Do you even watch these girls?’ ”
Even though the Victoria’s Secret models are not as skinny as runway models, they’re still quite thin and there’s a lot of pressure for them to stay slim, so they go on liquid diets and crazy workout routines in the weeks before their annual fashion show. They are often photo shopped to look even skinnier than they are.
Natasha Poly (5’10”) is pictured below walking in fashion shows.
Designers say that their clothes “hang” best on skinny models. Many young girls look up to these models and feel as though this is how they should look and that this is what others find attractive.
Gemma Ward was discovered when she was 14 and extremely thin. However, in 2007, she walked the Chanel show in a denim bikini after gaining 10-15 lbs and weighing about 120 lbs (and 5’10”). One anonymous editor said that she didn’t even recognize Gemma. The editor confessed that she was aghast and said that Gemma looked “big, almost bloated.” She continued to gain weight and has moved away from the fashion world.
Natalia Vodianova (below) was 5’9” and 106 lbs at age 19. Her hair was thinning, and she was anxious and depressed. She sought help and became healthier. When she got up to 112 lbs, her agent confronted her, because designers were complaining that she wasn’t as thin as she used to be. “I defended myself, saying it was crazy to consider measurements like 33-27-34 to be normal. I think because I was one of the girls most in demand it helped me to be able to forget the incident quickly. On the other hand, it makes me think that if I had been weak at the time, I can really imagine how it could have helped me endanger myself.” The models she had met on her way to the top were more malleable, she told the audience at a CFDA panel on eating disorders. “They were very young, a lot of them were very lonely, far from home and their loved ones. Most came from poor backgrounds and were helping their families. They left their childhood behind with dreams of a better life, and for most of them, there was nothing they wouldn’t do to live those dreams.”
Ann Ward was the winner of America’s Next Top Model Cycle 15. She is 6’2” and received a lot of attention because of her tiny waist.
This year’s Elite Model Look contest winner is 15 year old Julia Schneider from Sweden and is also very thin.
Now it seems as though young female models are not even skinny enough that they have started using male models for lingerie ads. What kind of message is this sending to young girls who might have some curves on their bodies? Andrej Pejic is the newest model for Hema lingerie.
At a CFDA talk, Coco Rocha said: “I felt pressure early in my career … I was told, ‘The look this year is anorexic. We don’t want you to be anorexic, just look it.’ This message was especially troubling given the fact that I was only fifteen.”
Fashion historian Valerie Steele wonders if this isn’t the flip side of the obesity crisis: “As everyone is blimping up, we’re idealizing thinness. It can’t be separated.”
There is a lot of pressure to be skinny in Hollywood and in the music industry too, but the fashion industry is promoting these extremely skinny women and telling the world that if you want to wear these beautiful clothes, you need to be skinny.
