The size zero debate has raged for years and it shows no sign of abating.
Last month a former editor of Australian Vogue, Kirstie Clements, revealed that she knew of models who were eating tissues to stay “Paris thin”. She said she had attended a shoot where a model didn’t eat for three days.
And in the UK there was criticism of a campaign for Georgia Hardinge’s new collection at River Island, which showed a very slim model.
Hospital admissions in the UK for eating disorders rose by 16% last year, with children and young people accounting for most admissions. Natasha Devon of Body Gossip, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to raise awareness about body image, has lectured to more than 20,000 14-to-18-year-olds about body confidence, 30% boys and 70% girls. She says that:
Their idea of what is anatomically perfect is very narrow. It’s basically Barbie and Ken. It’s a huge job to get them to see that there is no such thing as perfect.”
When you look at social media, there is a huge chorus of people who are fed up of the advertising and beauty industries. They want a revolution. The tide is turning.
Last week Debra Bourne of All Walks Beyond the Catwalk, an organisation designed to promote diversity in the fashion industry, complained about the lack of regulation on digital retouching of photographs:
There’s more regulation around advertising a refrigerator than a woman’s body. You couldn’t get away with selling some fancy Mercedes by retouching the headlights or streaming down the wheels, but you can do that to a woman’s body.
In an America obsessed with size zero chatshow host Ellen de Generes made headlines last week when she attacked clothing chain Abercrombie and Fitch for refusing to stock anything over a US size 10 (UK size 14). She asked:
Since when was something over a size 10 ‘plus-size’? It’s not just Abercrombie & Fitch: I’ve noticed the trend in women’s clothing. It’s getting ridiculous. Now they actually have a double zero. What are we aspiring to? ‘Honey, do these jeans make my butt look invisible in this?’ Beauty isn’t between a size zero and a size eight; it is not a number at all, it is not physical.
This week also sees the Be Real Event which will be held at the London College of Fashion in aid of eating-disorder charity Beat. One of the speakers, Deborah Frances-White, says:
We see thousands of images of clever, powerful, ambitious, opinionated men every week. We see thousands of images of underweight women with symmetrical faces. If you’re a media consumer, the message is clear. Looks are highly important and there are two looks that are acceptable – Jennifer Aniston and Jennifer Lopez. Do you look like either of those women? If not, ABC – Always Be Changing.
