Very good news indeed.
If you follow fashion at all… (and I love to!), we are in the midst of all the fall fashion weeks. The major ones are New York, Paris, Milan and London. But there are other significant fashion weeks in major cities happening at the same time.
Madrid sparked an international fashion controversy this week by banning models who have less than an 18 Body Mass Index (which is calculated by your height and weight). Someone that’s 5’ 6” and 120 pounds has a 19.5 BMI. Already this is thin. Some of the world’s most famous models have as little as a 15 BMI. Most nutritionists recommend nothing less than 20, less than that and you are short on fat AND muscle, and prone to all sorts of diseases—heart failure, osteoporosis, liver failure.
The mayor of Milan was inspired by Madrid’s move, and decided she is considering pushing a similar law into effect for Milan fashion week catwalks. This would have a major impact on the fashion world, as Milan hosts not only some of the world’s most influential designers (Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Versace, to name a few) but also would turn away the top models, unless they put on weight.
Now Edinburgh, which is a rising fashion city, decided to follow suit and this week put a similar ban into effect.
I am praying that this helps stir up deeper conversation and some new directions for modeling agencies—and above all helps transform the beauty ideals, especially for young women. It’s just a beginning but I am so happy.
“Super-skinny models to be banned from Edinburgh catwalks” in The Scotsman
“Skinniest Models are banned from catwalk” (about Madrid)
“Milan fashionistas fear Spanish skinny model ban” from Milan
