No-one who has ever caught a glimpse of a fashion show since the mid-1990's onwards could deny the ubiquity of the scrawny model. Skinny legs, thin arms, drawn features and even visible ribs (more or less) seemed to be pre-requisites for catwalk models in this day and age. Just look at the state of the lass on the right...Some called it heroin chic, with models in fashion mags and fashion shows looking more like junkies than objects of lust. Over the years many critics claimed these "modern" standards of beauty were responsible for an increase in eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia and that the lives of many fashion-conscious young women (and the models themselves) were being put at risk.
A lot was said about this but nothing was actually done until 2006, when a few bright sparks at Madrid's Cibeles Fashion Week thought it would be a good idea to ban the thinner models from the catwalk. However, this was only after one model who had been due to appear died after living off a diet of lettuce leaves and Diet Coke for several months. Unbeknown to the Brazilian model, Armani's people had already whispered amongst themselves that the waif-like creature was "too skinny".
However, the Madrid catwalk ban on emaciated models opened up a new can of worms: can a local authority put limits on artistic expression? Fashion designers are essentially artists and see their work - clothes and shows - as artistic creations. Can local councils or governments dictate - or essentially censor - an artist's work? Those behind Milan's fashion week seem to think that creative freedom of expression is more important than any knock-on effects like anorexia, bulimia or death (although a subsequent, more logical view has been adopted by the Italian industry, albeit a vague one). Even London Fashion Week seemed reluctant to follow Madrid's lead, despite the worries of MP Tessa Jowell, probably fearing accusations of kow-towing to the nanny state.
The latest news from Madrid is that the big boys of high street fashion in Spain have agreed to standardise their previously all-over-the-place sizing policy, so a size 38 in Zara will be the same size as a size 38 in Mango or Bershka or Massimo Dutti or wherever. Some reports focus on the proposed standardisation for clothes sizes while others choose to focus on the plans to readjust the unnatural measurements of the original fashion model: the showroom dummy (or mannequin). Here's how the story ran around the English-speaking world:
- BBC News
- The Guardian
- The Times (spot comical mis-spelling of Spanish MP's name...)
- San Jose Mercury News (US)
- CBS News (US)
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