For my first blog, I decided to talk a bit about the obvious and widely known issue in the fashion industry: eating disorders. Many if not all models working in the fashion industry are pressured into sickness. Even the naturally tallest and thinnest models are convinced, by their employers but also by themselves, that they are overweight. Many size 0 women look in the mirror and see a size 14, because their minds have been twisted by the industry. Of course, not all models are sickly thin, and not all are starving themselves or purging.
I often watch fashion shows on Fashion Television, and while I do see many sickly thin models, I truly appreciate seeing normal sized women modeling in certain lines. It warms my heart to see that some designers want their clothes to be seen on healthy women, that they often refuse too skinny models. While it may hurt models that are naturally very thin because they may be accused of having anorexia, it is important to show the world, especially young women not involved in the fashion industry, the image of a healthy woman.
A model I admire very much is Coco Rocha, a 23 year old 5'10 healthy beauty from Toronto, Ontario. She is catwalk veteran, who has already modeled for top lines like Prada, Chanel, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton and Dior, and has spoken out against eating disorders in the fashion industry many times. One of her most famous quotes that I strongly agree with is "How can any person justify an aesthetic that reduces a woman or child to an emaciated skeleton? Is it art? Surely fashion’s aesthetic should enhance and beautify the human form, not destroy it." Coco was often pressured to lose weight, industry people telling her that they wanted her to LOOK anorexic, without actually BEING anorexic (which makes absolutely no sense). It is sad to say that the fashion industry is ruining beautiful women who are not as strongly opinionated and strong willed as Coco Rocha, which truly makes me sad. I applaud Miss Rocha for what she said in an interview 2 years ago with The New York Times:“You know what, I’ve stopped caring…If I want a hamburger, I’m going to have one. No 21-year-old should be worrying about whether she fits a sample size.”
If all models had the same mindset as Coco, there would certainly be far less issues in the world of fashion, less deaths and women all around the world would have a much more positive view of their bodies.
