MODELS ARE NOT HANGERS

As Elie Saab the famous couture designer says, a female model has to be a person “who has a shape, has curves, has a bust. A woman in every sense of the word”

The past decade of the fashion industry suffered the dishonor from the death of models due to eating disorders and with so many other young models attempting suicide, depression and drug addiction for the rejections made by the appalling need for stick thin models on the runway.

Prior to the modern age, fashion was always created with the contours of the curvy female figure in mind, and designs were consequently beautiful, meant to linger over luscious curves, and to enhance feminine allure.

Should models have to fit a certain size range? And if so, who decides what is “healthy”?  It is a touchy subject that has two sides, and although there have been scientific tests about body image; society still seems stuck about how to move forward but optimistic change is being occurred with the emerging  use of models closer representing the majority of global women.

Models and the effect of eating disorders

Models seem to be suffering the brunt of the fashion industry's obsession with size zero, according to a study carried out by the Model Health Inquiry. The study indicates that as many as 40% of models may currently be suffering from some kind of eating disorder. The report suggests that there are a growing number of women with hidden eating disorders. If this is the case, perhaps current known cases may be just the tip of the iceberg. Anorexia is the most famous eating disorder among fashion models, but Bulimia is probably the most common. Many of the models, it seems, are purging or consuming vast quantities of water to conceal their weight - a dangerous move as it can seriously deplete potassium levels.

Say No to Size zero models

Dress designers have been demanding thinner and thinner, size-zero models to showcase their fashions, causing extreme pressure on the mostly young girls who model to lose extreme amounts of weight. But some influential people in the industry have taken a step backward even though the industry is not very pleased about it.

No one would ever accuse Victoria Beckham of being fat but the 2010 NY Fashion Week extravaganza kicks off with the news that she has specifically banned super-skinny models from walking in her spring 2011 catwalk presentation. All of the models in her show will be no smaller than a size six, she insists. The Daily Mirror reports that Victoria Beckham turned away at least 12 models for being too thin. In an industry where exposed ribs and disastrous image retouching are the norm, Beckham’s insistence on portraying a positive image is most commendable.

Other significant designers such as Valentino and Elie Saab have all banned rail-thin models from their runways replacing them with curvier models to show off their creations.

Another famous figure in the battle against size zero models is the Season 10 winner of America's Next Top Model, Whitney Thomson who at a healthy size 12 won the title, making her the first and only full-figured winner in the show's history. She is also an ambassador for the National Eating Disorders Association and is touring college campuses to talk to young women about positive body image.

Always one to be on top of the latest fashion movements, Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue has vowed to use curvier models in Vogue. The legendary magazine editor has promised to include larger beauties in upcoming issues of the US fashion bible after the success of their January 2010 cover shot image of the busty 25-year-old model Lara Stone, which she hopes will encourage other publishers to avoid skeletal models. All these statements do provide a solid design rationale for tailoring fashion to the naturally full, female figure with soft, swelling curves, rather than to a stick-like hanger.

Many say fashion is an awful industry and, that there’s no soul in modeling. It is because of the ignorance toward issues like these which are very common yet not talked about. Modeling is a career that has been existing for hundreds of years at least as far back as ancient Greece. A model is the best possible way to display a beautifully designed garment and the only way to grasp a realistic visualization of the design.

Almost every model admits of being treated ghastly, worse than anyone else for being heavy or too curvy. This is the case all around the world and the times have come for this perspective to change.  A model is not a hanger; she’s an epitome of the female splendor and must be treated like one. As Ellie Saab’s famous quote enunciates “a woman's beauty is in her femininity, in the form that God gave her… we all need to respect that”