Too Fat to Model?
Emaciation is nothing new. This ever-present disease plaguing the fashion industry is a direct result of mentally ill people obtaining positions of power. Their disturbed views of beauty and weight have become unwritten law, an abusive approach to business that turns human beings into lifeless commodities.
Lately, the number of model-hopefuls hungry to live in front of the lens has either wildly multiplied, or just wildly multiplied within mainstream media coverage. Most people have seen the stampede of hundreds of screaming girls at last season’s America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) casting, a prime example of how many people are longing to be a part of this illusive industry.
Recent reality TV shows like ANTM and Make Me a Supermodel have spiked popular interest in the fashion industry as of late, particularly the role that models play. These shows glamorize the runway lifestyle, but say nothing of the health repercussions and emotional instability that comes with turning a person into a piece of property.
TOO FAT TO MODEL?
As an exercise in the absurdity that is the industry standard, we highlight a few models who have been chastised for their weight recently, dubbed “too fat” for fashion.
American model David Sciola (left) was rejected from Parisian runways, while models like Boki Milinkovic (right) were getting work.
“In Milan, I trimmed down to about 76kg [167 lb] so I would fit the clothes,” says Sciola. ” I am 6′2″, so for me I would say that’s underweight. Paris tends to be even skinnier than Milan. You’ve got designers like Dior who always go for anaemic, 17-year-old bodies… I don’t even go to Prada castings because I know I’m not going to get the work.”
Milinkovic, however, stands 6′3″ and 66kg [145lb]. His comparative success goes to show that, at least in the fashion world, “scrawn is the new brawn.”
Jen Hunter (left) was criticized for her weight on Britain’s Make Me a Supermodel, while competitor Marianne Berglund (right) was praised for having a “sensational” body.
One judge on the show called Hunter “fat, lazy, and greedy.” Meanwhile, Berglund was congratulated for her figure, despite having a BMI of 16.1 – well below the CDC’s categorization of being underweight (defined as a BMI of 18.5 or lower).
Former Wonderbra model Katie Green quit her job after being repeatedly told she was too fat. To poke fun at her former employers, she went on to work with Sony in the Bravia ZX1 flat screen ad campaign, asking “is this thin enough for you?” Kudos to Green for laughing at her critics and refusing to comply.
Karolina Kurkova, a Victoria Secret supermodel, came under fire at Sao Paulo fashion week (left), where critics said she had ”love handles and cellulite.” We frankly can’t see a difference between this runway show and her Victoria Secret show (right) in 2008. Either way, this mother-to-be remains one of the Top 15 Highest Paid Models, according to Forbes, so critics be damned.
Eva Mendes was recently put in the position of defending her weight, after these new Calvin Klein ads emerged. Critics said she was too big to model, especially for Calvin Klein – a company notorious for using waifs like Kate Moss. “I don’t have a starving body, I have a healthy, toned body,” Mendes says. “I don’t think people should criticize my advert. I prepped for it a lot, and I think it’s great.”
Calvin Klein was less than supportive in this argument, however. CK President and CEO Tom Murry explained that the new campaign was “a departure from more slender body types that have been used in Calvin Klein Underwear ads. [It's] not so much about a trend of being more curvaceous. This product is made for a curvaceous woman.”
So, does this imply that Eva Mendes is (a) not slender, and (b) would only be hired in specific and rare instances, for fuller-figured products? Something is very wrong with this picture, indeed.
Famed Victoria Secret model-turned-media-mogul Heidi Klum was recently criticized by Wolfgang Joop for being “too fat” for the catwalk. Joop, a fashion designer and judge on Germany’s Next Top Model, told German GQ in February 2009 that Klum “is simply too heavy and has too big a bust. And she always grins so stupidly.”
Klum’s husband, Seal, fired back, saying that Joop’s remarks were “an insignificant statement coming from an even more insignificant source,” that he’s merely an unknown designer “looking for a little publicity.”
If anyone is in agreement with these critics that the models in question need to lose weight, we strongly suggest seeking professional help.
We can’t negotiate with disturbed fashion directors who demand their clothes be worn by corpses, much less the millions of minions who blindly follow suit. But we can come to terms with the fact that, as consumers, we always hold the upper hand. If we don’t like how they’re selling, what they’re saying, or who they’re starving in the name of fashion – then we won’t buy it. Money is a massive motivational tool, and it’s the most powerful picket sign we have. So let’s keep the protest pushing forward, in the name of health, human decency, and pure common sense.
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Sources:
“Fat Police Target Victoria’s Secret Model” The Daily Telegraph Online. June 24, 2008
“Too Fat for Paris” (Peter Munro) The Sydney Morning Herald. June 9, 2008
“Karl Lagerfeld vs. Heidi Klum: Round 2″ (Foster Kamer) The Gawker. June 13, 2009
“Eva Mendes Defends Her Curves” (Adam) ShowBizSpy Online. June 29, 2009
“Calvin Klein Calling Eva Mendes Fat” (Holly Wont) The Deceiver Online. July 23, 2008
I can’t wrap my mind around these underweight models, starved to the point of looking prepubescent. It’s just sick to see. How many times have numbers come out saying that the average woman is a size 8 (or thereabout)? When will it sink in with the people in the fashion industry, that the average person doesn’t look like that and shouldn’t be encouraged to? And those “fat” models look amazing! They should be the standard…I wonder what it will take to get to that point. A couple more underweight models fainting or worse?
By the way, I’ve been reading this blog for a while, it’s great! I look forward to the posts.
If you convince yourself that you cannot eat and have to be skinnier, then you must be believing that you are in control. That’s a fantasy. You are not in control, an illness is in control of your whole, entire life. I’ll tell you why: because you only think about being thin and about food. If you really were in control of your life, then you would think more about things like having fun, learning stuff and just normal growing up things. Being thin and food would just be one more simple part of life like any other. Please get help.
This breaks my heart.
this is why i won’t let my daughter model.
Question should not be whether any of these models are too fat, question is whether they are actually to be considered attractive enough to model………….
oh btw that girl that won top model…. yeah she is really ugly and her body is not very appealing even for a skinny girl but then again, none of the girls who win top model make it big in the modeling business. It’s just a reality show for naive girls and TV personalities who have nothing to do with the fashion industry.
Kurkova actually would be attractive enough to model btw.
Eating disorders litarally suck the life out of some of those kids. They’re not even really people anymore, they just, they don’t even look alive.
i’d like to just run in there and tell all of ‘em they’re fat, just to mess with their heads.
Well, I love Heidi Klum — She’s beautiful, sexy and has a great smile. She can wear anything and look great.