Superskinny Models Are Likely To Be Banned in France
Australian model Cassi Van Den Dungen, who was criticized for being too thin after walking in designer Alex Perry’s show. Photo: Getty
In France, where women have the magical ability to drink, smoke, and eat whatever they want and still look great, it was announced today that there will most likely be weight guidelines for models who have future plans to strut the runway or appear in advertising campaigns. A newly proposed law would require that catwalkers maintain a Body Mass Index of at least 18, and a weight of about 121 lb. for a height of roughly 5’7.” They would have to keep these measurements before being hired for the job and also throughout.
The health debate, which will be up for legislation in front of parliament on March 17, stems partially from the 2007 death of French model Isabelle Caro, who died after a long bout with anorexia.
If the law passes, it would mean that France would join Israel, Spain, and Italy in establishing guidelines to protect the young and impressionable girls who take to the runway. They often are thrown into the mix, sans guidance, and with the pressure of their peers and older girls, who may or may not be supportive. (Imagine Mean Girls on steroids.) Just ask Australian model Cassi Van Den Dungen, who, four years after she won the Oz version of Next Top Model, was lambasted on the runway by designer Alex Perry, who said that casting her skinny frame in his show was “a serious lapse in judgment.”
There is a clause that will make fashion houses and advertising agencies take note: Should these regulations not be met, there will be fines of up to $80,000 and potentially six months in jail for any staff member who is involved. Even though stripes are perpetually in, prison is not chic for anyone.
"It’s important for fashion models to say that they need to eat well and take care of their health, especially for young women who look to the models as an aesthetic ideal," Health Minister Marisol Touraine said in a statement on Monday.
We’re not sure that all of the girls we just saw on the Fall 2015 runways would have passed these new regulations, but we hope that we get to see them next season, even healthier than ever!
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