The Weight of Fashion

The how-skinny-is-too-skinny debate has taken another interesting turn, as reported in Women’s Wear Daily today. Last summer Madrid put restrictions on the size a model prowling the cat-walk could be. Requiring a certain body mass that roughly translates to a model weighing more than 120 lbs. At first there was outrage at the idea, but soon after other cities (and ones that are more renown for their fashion shows) began debating the issue and considering similar guidelines.

When authorities in Milan announced they would create a set of guidelines for all models to comply by or else risk being fined, the debate took on a whole new dimension and fashionistas in the US began to take notice. Vogue’s own Anna Wintour even said it was time to do something about the shrinking model size. Cosmo’s editor Kate White has begun enforcing a new policy barring ultra-skinny models from gracing the pages of the magazine, even in the ads.

Now New York’s Council of Fashion Designers of America will issue suggestions this week on promoting a healthier lifestyle for models. And while the recommendations will be ready by the time Fashion Week kicks off in early February, they won’t be enforced (as in Madrid and Milan). The meeting to discuss the issue contained some industry heavy-weights, including nutritionist Joy Bauer, psychiatrist Susan Ice, trainer David Kirsch and Nian Fish, creative director at KCD, as well as Diane von Furstenberg, who represented the CFDA membership at the meeting, Anna Wintour and Louis Chaban, a modeling agent at DNA.