Models have been attracting all the usual frenzied attentions of the media and paparazzi, although recently the focus of the camera lens has shifted away from the party antics, sparkling sequins, and million dollar contracts. Images of underweight models are now holding the front page and capturing all the headlines, for once pushing stories of supermodels onto the back pages. Fashion is a pendulum, and after many years over which dress sizes have steadily declined to size zero, a recent spate of health problems has now caused public debate. The fashion industry now finds itself caught upon the horns of a dilemma – either to maintain the image of an emaciated elite of tall, svelte models, or instead bow to the diktats of a moralising minority who believe that is they who should dictate the socially acceptable range of human physical forms.
The recent tragic deaths of Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston, who weighed only 88 pounds at death, and Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos of heart failure during a fashion show in Montevideo, have spurred those of responsibility into action. The resulting wave of public anxiety has even reached Congress, with Bronx Assemblyman Jose Rivera calling for ‘responsible protections, especially for younger workers’. It has long been alleged by opponents that the fashion and modelling industries present young women with unattainable standards of physical perfection which they will suffer to emulate. For those of longer memory, the pendulum has merely swung its full cycle, as ‘ultra-thin’ was the essence of seventies chic when Twiggy, Britt Ekland and Maud Adams ruled the runways and the silver screen. Social preferences for feminine curvature rebounded in the eighties, although now, some thirty years on, we have come full circle with a return to a taste for tall, feline, size zero (22 inch waist) models. Thin became synonymous with health and fitness, and fashion retailers have been enjoying a booming trade in size zero ranges. Good news for the diet industry, but not for those who refuse to believe that healthful weight loss can still be achieved through balanced food intake like HiPaCC. Michael Vollbracht, creative director of Bill Blass, fondly recalls the eighties and early nineties when the curvaceous figures of Cindy Crawford and Elle Macpherson dominated an era of supermodels.
What may appear glaringly obvious to many still requires the official stamp of approval, and it took a study by the British Medical Association to establish a link between images of ‘abnormally thin’ fashion models and an increase in eating disorders amongst the young. Quick to sense a change in the prevailing public mood, Bronx Assemblyman Rivera recently proposed an hoc panel of health experts, industry representatives, models and entertainers to advise the New York Labour Department on the need to govern individual weight requirements for employment. Of course it isn’t just the weight and form of fashion models which is now governed by regulations. Those adjudged to be overweight by a mathematical ratio (the Body Mass Index) are also subject to regulation, and in the UK such individuals may be denied IVF treatment, joint replacements and a whole range of healthcare and insurance. The ultra-fat and the ultra-thin will now be diagnosed and treated in much the same way as drug addicts and alcoholics, although their health issues are far more conspicuous to the eye. The era of Big Brother has certainly dawned.
In an attempt to head off the legislators, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (the CFDA) have released their own recommendations to help to reduce anorexia, bulimia and smoking amongst models. Their decision to keep those under sixteen off the runway, to educate models about eating disorders, and to prohibit smoking and the drinking of alcohol at shows would all seem to be prudent policies. The root of the problem however, is that previous extreme changes in the physical appearance of models was actually driven by these mandarins of fashion themselves. Their motive was simple. If the appearance of models suddenly swings from thin and gaunt to well fleshed and toned, then those in style are obligated to follow fashion and to constantly splash out on expensive new wardrobes. It is an age old formula which has made them rich over centuries. Models on the other hand, both the aspiring and the established, are obliged to adapt their weight and form in rapid time to meet the requirements of the next show and style, or be left out on the line. Many prefer starvation to unemployment.
Other fashion capitals like London have considered following suit, whilst others, including Quebec, have taken a more conciliatory view, calling upon members of the fashion industry to discuss joint strategies to promote public health and ruling out the ‘policing’ of fashion shows. A spokeswoman for the Association of Fashion Designers of Spain claimed that her group supported such restrictions, although it was primarily only concerned with the quality of its collections. In contradiction, eating disorder ‘activists’ believe that many Spanish model agencies and designers will oppose the ban and doubt that they will accept the new rulings peacefully. Meanwhile in Brazil, fashionistas are starting to talk of a marriage between corporate responsibility and the catwalk. Unlike Madrid and Milan however, fashion week in Sao Paulo decided against enforcing fixed weight limits for models based upon their height to weight ratio (Body Mass Index). Instead, there has been a purge of underage models, with young models receiving seminars on health and nutrition.
For all the swings and roundabouts of the fashion world, there is perhaps nothing as powerful as the court of popular opinion, which is recorded, aroused and influenced by an increasingly powerful media. The statistics company Nielsen recorded the prevailing global view on the form of fashion models, and found that more than eighty percent of people believe that female fashion models and celebrities are too thin these days.