Italian Code Nixes Rail-Thin Models
They're beautiful, famous and above all skinny. They're the world's fashion models. But the tune is changing as the fashion industry has been coming under increasing pressure to promote a healthier image.
Just like in Spain last September, where Madrid's Fashion Week banned models with a body mass index of less than 18, Italy has decided to follow suit to combat the phenomenon of anorexic models.
The Italian government and the fashion industry have joined forces in a campaign saying "no" to rail-thin models. The campaign pledges that the fashion world will start to give importance to "a model of healthy, sunny, full-bodied Mediterranean beauty that Italy has historically contributed" to the international scene.
On Friday, Youth Policy and Sports Minister Giovanna Melandri and Mario Boselli, president of the Italian Fashion Chamber, signed a self-regulating code for Italy's highly competitive fashion industry, reports CBS News reporter Sabina Castelfranco. The code calls for more attention to the "full-bodied" image and a commitment to add larger sizes to collections.
The catwalk shows of Italy's fashion capital are to be held in February. And the city has already signed an agreement with its powerful fashion industry banning models under the age of 16 and those with a body mass index of less than 18.5. The World Health Organization considers anyone with a body mass index below 18.5 to be underweight.
Milan mayor Letizia Moratti said recently that the agreement signed in her city was the result of a common effort to share and to communicate to young people the importance of positive models of living. At the last shows in Milan, some of the models were extremely skinny and some of the new models were as young as 14. But none of them would admit to any pressure to lose weight.
Some well-known Italian designers, like Armani, have said that from now on they will have only healthy models on the catwalk. One model that recently confessed to problems because of her weight is Milla Jovovich. She said her weight was insufficient to carry a pregnancy through and announced that she was planning to increase her weight.
Others, like Victoria Beckham, also seem to want to put on weight to have a second child. Rail-thin Nicole Ritchie recently ended up in the hospital. Kate Winslet has spoken out about the negative influence of skinny models on young adolescents.
In October, a beautiful but weigh-obsessed 21-year-old Brazilian model died due to anorexia. Ana Carolina Reston, who worked for some of New York's top agencies, weighed only 88 pounds and her body mass index was 13.5 when she died. That promoted the Brazilian fashion world to bar models younger than 16, as part of national efforts to increase awareness about eating disorders.
In addition models taking part in Sao Paulo's big catwalk show next month have to compulsorily prove good health. Agencies will have to provide signed medical certificates testifying the state of health of their models.