Skeletons On The Runway

Skeletons on the Runway Fashion models and stylish Hollywood starlets have become notorious for bad girl, diva behavior while charitable works and humanitarian ventures have catapulted others to fame. Dress size has yet to tarnish a fashion icon’s reputation–until this year, when emaciated young actresses and fashion models began to appear in increasing numbers in the tabloid press. Their dramatically low weight sparked the “size-zero debate”— based on the theory that painfully thin modern fashion icons have a dangerous influence on admiring young women, some of whom are vulnerable to anorexia nervosa. Singled out for criticism has been Rachel Zoe—an influential Los Angeles stylist who groomed young, lean, and newly chic superstars Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie, Keira Knightly, and Mischa Barton. Zoe’s unarguable flair extended to launching numerous fashion trends this year, including skinny jeans, vintage tops, headbands, oversized sunglasses, and big handbags. The Los Angeles Times, however, blamed her for “single-handedly bringing anorexia back.” Reed-slim Zoe refuted the allegation that she affected the eating habits of her clients, telling London’s The Sunday Times, “I don’t think it is fair to say that I’m responsible because I’m a thin person, that because I’m influencing their style I’m influencing what they eat.” “Size zero” became front-page news in September when model Luisel Ramos collapsed on a runway during Uruguay’s Fashion Week moments after being applauded by spectators; she later died from heart failure. News emerged that she had fasted to lose weight as she readied for the show. As a result, coordinators of Madrid’s Fashion Week banned from the event models whose body mass index (BMI, a measurement of body fat according to weight and height) fell below 18, which was considered unhealthy. The International Herald Tribune noted that many top models had a BMI that was in the 14–16 range.

Before the start of mid-September’s London’s Fashion Week, the Madrid ban prompted British designers Sir Paul Smith and Allegra Hicks, as well as members of Parliament, including Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, and health experts, to speak out against “size-zero girls.”

Hilary Riva, chief executive of the British Fashion Council, canceled the photo call that traditionally opened London’s Fashion Week. Just prior to Milan’s Fashion Week, Tiziano Maiolo, the city councilor responsible for fashion, claimed that there were “too many skeletons on the runways,” while Mayor Letizia Moratti urged Italian designers to cast healthy-looking models in their runway shows. Finding a positive solution to the size-zero debate is the job of the professionals grooming young, vulnerable women for fashion fame – that is, their model agent employers, stylists shaping their images, as well as big-league designers. Ultimately it is a designer’s choice of who is cast in seasonal runway shows and in the advertising campaigns their fans scrutinize. So selecting models who appear fit, healthy, and strong would undoubtedly set a precedent.