London Fashion Week 2007 starts
sans models under 16
20 September, 2007
The London Fashion Week of 2007,
which is under way, sports a big
difference. Models under the age of 16
are not allowed to catwalk.
The decision to allow only models
aged 16 and above to participate in
one of the most prestigious events of
the world’s fashion industry comes on
the heels of a report issued by
Britain’s Model Health Inquiry.
The inquiry was set up by the
British Fashion Council, which
organizes the London Fashion Week – an
event that features dozens of
international designers – amid an
international debate about models who
appear to be unhealthily skinny.
The Model Health Inquiry report
also follows the starvation-related
deaths of South American models Ana
Carolina Reston, 21, and sisters
Louisel and Eliana Ramos in 2006.
Models participating in the London
Fashion Week of 2008 will also have to
provide a medical certificate from a
specialist in ‘eating disorder’
attesting to their good health.
Baroness Kingsmill, chair of the
inquiry, has said that, “during the
investigation, evidence of
vulnerability of women in the modeling
profession was startling and models
are at high risk of eating disorders.”
With a view to having control of
widespread health issues in the
fashion profession, the inquiry report
recommends that models with severe
eating disorders such as anorexia not
be allowed to participate in next
year’s fashion week.
Baroness Kingsmill said girls with
some milder eating disorders could
take part, but only if they had their
doctor’s permission.
Some health professionals have
welcomed the move as a step forward
for the fashion industry. Dr Linda
Papadopoulos, a psychologist, told CTV
News, “This is going to put the onus
on the industry as a whole to have
some kind of responsibility.”
The Model Health Inquiry report also
suggests that models participating in
the fashion week face random drug
tests. However, it is unclear whether
that recommendation will be enacted.
The 14 recommendations listed in the
report also fell short of creating a
minimum body mass index (BMI) limit.
The BMI measures ratio of weight to
height.
According to the authors of the
report, using the BMI does not
accurately measure health. However,
Italy and Spain have banned all models
with a BMI of less than 18 – in
effect, a size zero – from fashion
shows in those countries. A BMI of
18.5 is the World Health
Organisation’s minimum healthy
standard.
The report also noted that models are
part of a profession at high risk of
eating disorders, but that there is a
lack of knowledge about such disorders
in the fashion industry. Exceedingly
thin models are provoking criticism
that the fashion industry is obsessed
with thinness and dieting in the wider
population.
Other recommendations of the
Model Health Inquiry are
- Checking of criminal records for
agents, designers, and photographers
working with models under the age of
16.
- Setting up of a health awareness
programme to help models and
industry professionals recognise and
get help for eating disorders.
- Establishment of a healthy
backstage environment with quality
food products.
- Limiting digital manipulation of
body shapes.
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