The sad day, the Models died.
This decade will certainly go down in history, as one of the most significant movements known for women. Yes we won the vote, yes it’s laughable to our youth when they hear a woman self praise for obtaining Corporate Leadership.
“That’s old news, haven’t women always run the roost?” Our young would say.
To which we reply. “No little one, they had to fight for that right!”
But what about image?
What about the Models, who have been tortured for over three decades by starvation, by enduring insults regarding any meat they may have on their bones, by being told to lose the weight or find another job? They must have thought the rest of us simply didn’t care. What must have they thought of us for not standing up for them, for letting such travesties continue? They had to dwindle down to a dying breed, a dying breed indeed. But no more!
London took action against anorexia, and are reformatting their Modeling criteria.
A new revolution of Models will take rebirth from the ashes of the dark cloud. That the dark ages of Fashion has ended. It sincerely is a triumph.
“Hay gals, its OK to eat now! If you don’t, you can’t work here!”
Now that’s not a joke, and here’s why.
No more under-aged Models will be strutting the catwalk in London. London says no! Although they should reconsider the age limit of 16, as that is still young, Milan is reportedly strapping the age limit to 18. England is one of the first countries to be combating the ongoing struggle that Models have faced for over three decades. The battle of anorexia.
London has announced that under-aged Models will be rejected by the agencies, in fact, they are already upping the stakes.
The movement to keep their models alive and functioning healthy is actually being taken quite seriously. They are now going to be enforcing health tests on the Models, with drug testing being on the list. A few models in London have already been rejected for work due to being underweight!
Milan is also joined in the glorious fight to keep the models healthy, and now you must be 18 or over to walk the catwalk there! It is commendable that these countries are waging campaigns to encourage healthier Models, defending the welfare of these young girls.
Why now? Why the sudden change? It’s like the twilight zone for Models!
A little recap over 2006/2007: It saddens me to report on these events, and my heart goes out to the girls families.
With the death of three models this year, both dying from the repercussions of starvation, the modeling world had no choice but to respond. The general public could finally stand up and ask the question lurking in the back of their minds for over thirty years.
Why does a Models weight have to be far below the level of acceptable percentage of body fat, according to their height and age?
In other words, why are you starving the girls, retiring them far too young, and believe that’s Couture? It’s ok, we have his attempt to justify, in the form of a public comment a little further on down the list.
It took the death of two models, sisters in fact, for that question to become socially acceptable to utter! And equally acceptable for Designers and Agencies alike to comfortably address.
Back in February of this year, 18 year old Eliana Ramos, a Uruguayan Model, died in her Montevideo home. Preliminary tests pinpointed malnutrition as the cause of her sudden death, she had what they call generalized infection brought on by anorexia. She was fasting before an upcoming catwalk gig.
Her death came only six months after her older sister Luisel Ramos died in Montevideo, Uruguay, after exiting the catwalk on route to the dressing room. She fainted and died of heart failure. She was 22 years of age, and had been starving herself days before the catwalk event, so reportedly told by her father. The 180cm (approx 59) had dwindled down to 40kg (88lbs) on a diet of lettuce for over three months. At the time of her death, she had a body mass index of 14.5. (below 18 is considered to be starvation – and anything less than 22.0 to be underweight.)
In November 2006, Ana Carolina Reston, 21, who modeled for designers such as Giorgio Armani, was a Brazilian model. She died from kidney failure, brought on by starvation, the evening before an international photoshoot. She was hospitalized for three weeks, suffering from kidney failure before it finally took her life. She weighed 6 stone (84 lbs), despite she was 5ft 7. She lived on apples and tomatoes, and would vomit anything else that she dared pass by her lips.
Didier Grumbach, the head of the French Couture Federation, says: ‘To say that we should regulate just one profession among many to avoid young girls getting thin, when everything in our society encourages them to do so, is unreasonable.’ (17 November 2006)
Fortunately for the rest of the world, London and Milan, who have eagerly embraced merging Fashion with healthy models, and have left the old way of thinking behind! Because they understand that society is molded by the Fashion Industry, not the other way around!
For all those aspiring Models out there, take a deep breath, have a good rest, and enjoy your dinner. Baby the world is changing for the good, and you are the youth of today, embrace it, love it and live it.