Why blame fashion for “thinsiprations”?

It is now a fashionable way to blame the fashion industry for issues such as glamorising drugs, cruelty against animals, influences for gun culture and especially causing anorexia within the younger generation. The issues about “models-are-too-skinny-and-look-like-druggies” courtesy of Ms Kate Moss has been brought up again and again by the media and according to The Age (2007) “The issue has been hot since the death in 2006 of two anorexic Latin American models and concern that impressionable girls will see ultra-thin bodies as the ideal.”

Boney models

However this time, the media, government, health professionals and fashion insiders are focusing on the model’s health and the public. Just recently in January the Council of Fashion Designers of America, the US industry's trade group has issued guidelines to build a healthier industry in hope that it will put a stop over the model’s weight issue which has an impact on both model and public. The council's guidelines included offering healthy food backstage with no alcohol and smoking, an outline about nutrition and eating disorders and banning models under 16 from runways.

Karl Lagerfeld, one of the most leading fashion designers of the late 20th century said to Harpers Bazaar (2007) “Models are about looks, not about weight problem.” While in Sunday Metro.co.uk (2007) “supermodel Naomi Campbell waded into the size zero debate and declared: "Don't blame the fashion industry."” By supporting the council’s guidelines, John Paul Gaultier surprised everyone in his 30th anniversary show in Paris Fashion week by bringing in Australian Gemma Ward who weight 132 kilogram to the runway. (Huntington, 2006)

Gemma Ward on the runway for Paris Fashion Week

Why are there still people dying of anorexia or bulimia? In The Age (2007) news, it stated that nearly 10 million American women and 1 million men battle eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia, according to the National Eating Disorders Association. “Hergarty and her colleagues concluded that even though graphics may have few inherent sequential constrains on their processing, that does not mean they are necessarily easy to understand” (Hegarty, p.650 cited in Shriver 1997, p. 373) The problem still remain is because fashion designers, models and the media continue to photograph skinny models in the online media as well as the print media. Graphics are able to make differences in how fast they can shape an image of the subject and what type of image they form. (Larkin and Simon, 1987 cited in Shriver 1997, p. 372)

The younger generation technically looks up to skinny models in designer’s couture collections today; they should photography healthy eating models instead. The blame for anorexia and bulimia should not lie solely on the fashion industry, I agree that they should take up the responsibility to create good role models however the parents, government, fashion designers and especially the media should also play a big part in it.

Reference List:

Huntington, P. 2006, Gaultiers largesse reply to skinny debate, The Sydney Morning Herald, viewed on 26 October 2007,
< http://www.smh.com.au/news/fashion/gaultiers-largesse-reply-to-skinny-debate/2006/10/04/1159641392975.html >

Birch, K. 2007, The skinny debate, Harper’s Bazaar, ACP Magazines Pte Ltd, Malaysia.

Schriver, KA 1997, Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, Whiley Computer Pub, New York.

Sunday Metro.co.uk, 2007, Naomi: Don't blame fashion industry for size zeros, viewed on the 26 October 2007, <www.metro.co.uk/fashion/article.html?in_article_id=37210&in_page_id=22 >

The Age, 2007, Skinny debates rages, viewed on the 26 October 2007, < http://www.theage.com.au/news/fashion/skinny-debate-rages/2007/02/07/1170524132040.html >