What would Fashion Week be without a scandal over a model’s weight?
This time, it’s all about Stella McCartney and Paris Fashion Week.
Two days ago, McCartney Instagrammed the below image of one of her models wearing a top that also happened to be the invite to her spring/summer 2015 show. The model happened to be very, very slim.
To add fuel to the too-skinny fire, McCartney included the caption “worn well”:
The image was quickly met with a whole lot of disapproval from her followers, who wrote comments such as “disgusting” and “shame on you, Stella”.
After witnessing the backlash, McCartney removed the image to replace it with this one:
A representative from the brand also told UK site The Independent:
“We are a house that celebrates all shapes, all sizes, all races and all ages. We should have been more mindful… It was a quick snap done backstage that was misleading. We listened to our followers and we took it down and replaced it. We can only apologise if we offended anyone.”
This backlash against tiny models is not a new one. Earlier this year, Jackie Frank, editor of Marie Claire, saw a model on the catwalk of the Alex Perry show who was so skinny that she called the model’s agent to complain.
At the time, Mamamia’s Publisher and Founder, Mia Freedman, wrote:
Jackie Frank told a News Limited journalist, “When I saw those legs I nearly died. I rang the model agent and said ‘why is that girl walking down the runway when she’s clearly not healthy?”
The girl – the woman – is 21-year-old Cassi Van Den Dungen, former contestant on Australia’s Next Top Model and mother of a two-year-old son, who has just returned from walking the runway in Paris where catwalk models are required to be ‘Paris-thin’; even more severely underweight than regular models.
Starvation is a job requirement.
And to illustrate the point, here are some of the skinnier models that have appeared on catwalks in the past:
Here at Mamamia, we acknowledge that you can’t tell how healthy someone is by simply looking at their body. But we also know that models are traditionally encouraged to become drastically underweight.
We need to keep encouraging and pressuring designers to get models of more shapes and sizes onto their catwalks. So bravo, Stella McCartney, for listening to your fans and further supporting all women.
What do you think about the Stella McCartney image – should she have taken it down?
Top Comments
Seriously! Then the same should be done for over weight people are featured wearing clothes. How do we know that this girl is naturally skinny? This is just getting out of hand. When I was young I was a stick and I ate everything good and bad. Hated when people said gain weight. Stop attacking thin women. Mind you I am now overweight.
I agree that yes, the model looks too thin; unhealthy to a point. However, as the cousin of a model who was recently the poster girl for a skinny model scandal published by Mamamia, I do have to say that maybe, just maybe that is how her genetics work. My cousin is extremely intelligent, beautiful, fit, healthy and yes, skinny. I have seen her eat, I have seen her excercise, her body shape has not changed in the past year, 2 years, 10 years. She has a very fine bone structure. She doesn't 'diet' and yes, she eats dessert.
I'm not saying that I agree with the modelling industry, or the routes some models take to get where they are. What I am saying, is that maybe you should dig a little deeper than just the first picture you see of the model.