OMG! Is that for real? I can't believe any fashion house would allow that! And can you believe the fashion houses are fighting making a law to stop this? What is wrong with them? That is just sick!

In the NYT photo, the deceased model doesn't look that bad. But if she went down to 88 lbs before she died, someone should have intervened and gotten her into a hospital. And for a fashion house to use the model in your post is horrible and criminal!

I bet there are some organized groups that are protesting this. If you are looking for a cause, stopping this is a good one!

omg! omg! that poor girl! how could anyone let her do this to herself? how could someone let her walk the catwalk when she is obviosly so sick? seeing this made me cry! something has to be done to stop this, it is just too horrible!

Does anyone know if there is a group or organization that is fighting this trend? I would like to get involved to help end not just the fashion industry's exploitation of young models for profit but the entire marketing industry and it's portrayal that being super thin is the "right" way to be. If you know of such a group, please let me know.

That is so very, very sad. It has to end. I googled to find an organization that fights this but couldn't find one. Is it possible there are none? I can't imagine that, I probably just didn't google the right question. If anybody finds one, please share.

Ok, I don't claim to be any expert on fashion but I don't get why a fashion buyer who goes to a fashion show looking to buy a line for their stores would want to see models this skinny. I think they would be revolted by the fashion house using models who are this skinny and maybe not buy any of their clothes. They are to blame as much asthe fashion house because they support what the fashion house is doing by buying. The fashion houses would get the message if the buyers stopped buying from them, right?

That is a valid point, Raphael, but remember that these buyers are there to order their summer/spring/fall lines. If they don't buy they won't have seasonal inventory. I am afraid the pressure needs to be on the fashion houses. Models will do whatever it takes to keep working, buyers will buy even if they don't approve of anorexic models, and the wheel will keep turning. Self-policing by the fashion industry has proven itself to be toothless. That leaves vigilanteism and/or tough enforceable laws.

I say we sick PETA on them! They protect animal's wellbeing, people are animals too! If they found dogs being used in a business that were this thin, they would be all over that business! It is human abuse!

I know they argue that the models do this to themselves so their hands are clean. But that just isn't so. They "train" them into believing they need to be ultra-ultra-super thin to succeed. They tell them they can't keep working unless they get thinner. It is brainwashing.

So come on, PETA. Stop human abuse!

I don't get why fashion houses want such thin models either. It isn't sexy or even attractive. I haven't heard any argument except clothes "hang better" on thin. Better than what? Obese? Doh! But they hang fine if they are cut right. Maybe that is it--their clothes don't hang right on "real" people, only stick figures. That is their dirty little secret.

btw, "flesh out" wasn't lost on me :)

Maybe the realization of just how pervasive a problem this is has finally taken root. The issue has resonated throughout Europe in recent years following anorexia-related deaths of fashion models and the banning of ultra-thin models from Spain’s catwalks. New York Magazine's recent piece noted that it is still unclear how the proposed French law would apply to ads and fashion spreads. And as you point out, the measure doesn't define “excessive thinness.” But it's headway and people are taking an interest. I hope the pressure stays on.

I'm glad to see the French "weighing in" on this. (See, I can pun too!) I've thought for years that some models were way too thin and wondered how they got work like that. I'll take Tyra Banks any day!

Damn, Teddy, I wish I'd thought of that for my title: "The French Weigh In On Thinness"!

Good one!

Doug

Here is another point. Anorexics have sallow skin and dry hair among other unattractive features. Yet when we see them in magazine ads and on billboards, those features have been magically photoshopped out. They even use retouching to "fatten" them up in the "right" places. What we ultimately see are porcelain-skinned dolls with enhanced boobs and tiny wastes without their protruding ribs. The girl in your post didn't have the magic treatment but we see the results of photoshopped photos every day in the magazines that influence young girls. Something has to be done to control how much manipulation is allowable if it is used to mislead young girls about what is "beauty".

The way the Spaniards determine whether a model is too thin is by calculating body mass. I believe the standard they use is 18. A body mass of less than 18 and you're banned from the runway. At the time of her death, Ana Carolina Reston had a body mass of 13! (if memory serves).

You may be thinking of an article that appeared, two months before Reston's death from anorexia nervosa and bulimia, in Madrid's Fashion Week, the Pasarela Cibeles, announcing it was banning models with a BMI (Body Mass Index), or height-to-weight ratio, below 18. (A 5-foot-9 model weighing 125 pounds would have a BMI of 18). A Spanish fashion show also adopted the BMI standard and Milan's Fashion Week tightened its restrictions on underweight models about that time.

Doctors usually consider a BMI of less than 18.5 as being under weight. Reston would have had a body mass index of 13.4 at the time of her death, according to a calculator on the Web site of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

I agree Teddy, I'm more a Victoria's Secret kind of guy too. ;p

Tanya: There used to be a group in Boston called "Boycott Anorexic Marketing" that focused on that narrowly defined segment of the disease but I wasn't able to find a current listing for them. I suggest you contact ANAD (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Eating Disorders) to find out how you can help.

Doug

As I understand it, anorexia nervosa is a mental condition so I don't see how policing the fashion industry's hiring practices is going to help that. Maybe we should be talking about how to treat people with the disease.

You are right Craig in that it is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes an eating disorder, but it's a very complex one involving psychological, neurobiological and sociological components.

For example, sociocultural studies have highlighted the role of cultural factors, such as the promotion of thinness as the ideal female form in Western industrialised nations, particularly through the media, as a causal component.

Approximately 6% of those who are diagnosed with the disorder eventually die, many from suicide. Getting the media recognize their role will go a long way toward helping reduce this deadly disease which has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder.

Thanks for the additional info Nina! I take it you are a doctor?

Nope, graduate student.

very good post and excellent comment thread, very nice site.

If everyone in the industry would just get on board with using "real" women (and men) for modeling, everyone would be fine with it. It is always the same though, one or two ass----- insist on doing the wrong thing and the rest think they have to do it too to be competitive. I hope the law in France sticks and I hope they jail some design house execs (fines won't work-these guys make BIG bucks) and then maybe the other countries will get on board. There just isn't any need for this. Clothes hang fine on healthy women.