The Quadrangle

Issue date: 9/27/06 Section: Opinions

Designers moving away from super skinny models for their fashion week shows.

In recent years, fashion has taken a path towards super-thin models that have recently ?come under fire by some fashion industry leaders. In Spain, some models were actually prohibited from participating in fashion shows because of their low weight. The ban came after the death of Luisel Ramos . Ramos was an underweight model that died of a heart attack in Uruguay after stepping off the runway. She apparently consumed nothing but Diet Coke and green leaves for three months, causing her body to shut down from lack of nutrition.
In the wake of New York Fashion Week, fashion insiders all over the world are "weighing in" on the notion of stick-thin models. Some feel that size zero models should be banned, and others feel that there is nothing wrong with the standards to which the fashion industry demands its models to conform to. Kate Moss has long been the poster child for the "heroin chic" body type. When Moss first came onto the fashion scene, there was discussion whether her body type is should be promoted within the fashion world. Now it appears that Kate Moss is quickly becoming a plus size model in comparison with some other girls.
Bans proposed in Milan as well as in Spain stipulate that models must have a BMI (Body ?Mass Index) of at least 18 in order to model. This means that a 5'9" model must weigh at least 123 pounds. This may not seem like much, but the average 5'9" model has a BMI of only 16. This is not an unreasonable constraint -- it ensures not only that the models are healthy but also that young girls all over the world have realistic body types to look up to.
That being said, there should not be a move to make plus-size models into the new chic. While this may not sound "politically correct," followers of fashion do not want to watch a fashion show or look at a magazine and see anyone who has anything but a perfect body. That is their job: to look thin and beautiful at all times. Granted, the emaciated is never attractive, but clothing hangs best on a thin girl. A size 8 model or even a size 6 model really has no place on high fashion runways. The concept of fashion, especially the new type of thin, as is Gisele or any of the Victoria's Secret models. That is what the industry is, and any bans that would alter that image would be a disservice to both designers and consumers.

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