Australian Fashion Week ignores pleas to ban skinny models

Another fashion week and what have we learned? Sadly going by the picture to the right it seems not very much. The skinny model debate has reared its ugly head again this time at Australian Fashion Week (AFW). Organisers and designers have come under fire for sending extremely thin models down the catwalks despite promises to "self-regulate".

Top designer Wayne Cooper has also come under scrutiny for defending Aussie models by labelling them as "porky" in comparison to European models. "All I know is that when you go to Europe and New York and see the castings, generally the girls are skinny as," he said. "I wouldn't say that's the representation of girls in Australia. I think, in a way, they've got more meat on their bones here." He obviously hasn't been paying attention to what's been traipsing down the catwalks then.

Despite asking modelling agencies not to use any models who they suspect are unnaturally thin or have an eating disorder, AFW organisers chose not to enforce the body mass index testing now being used in several fashion capitals. "If any designer has gone out to put unusually or unhealthy skinny models on the catwalk purposely to generate publicity, I will make sure that they never show at Australian Fashion Week again," said AFW boss Simon Lock. That's all very good and well Mr Lock but models who aren't healthy-looking are appearing on your catwalks and are sending mixed messages about what it is acceptable and what isn't.

As an Australian myself this appalls me. While AFW is often known for its sun-loving swimwear there should be an even greater responsibility to monitor what is being represented. The designers behind Azzollini, one of the shows most criticised for using "frighteningly thin" models at AFW, claim they make swimwear for all manner of sizes. So then what's their excuse for only using the smallest of sizes on their runway?

It makes my blood boil. When will designers and their counterparts sit up and take notice of what is really happening. Fashion may be fickle but its consequences can have long-lasting affects. [source]

Read more AFW coverage right here thanks to our Aussie blogger Helen Lee.

Cassandra

my name is cassandra bauer, i dont model for an agent just yet but i am hoping to and i am also hoping to go far yet no matter how many times people tell me to in very much almost stop eating my mates and family tell me to eat more soo iv spoken and read many dietition books that were very helpfully i eat brekky (keeps matabolism going strong) lite lunch - Sandwitch, roll or salad and fruit or snack bar and juice (subway says to stop eating cheese even but its good for you so why not eat it... ) you just dont go over borde at dinner time ill have "steak" and its not to be any more than the size of your fist so do this dont limit yourself to food eat the right things and live heathly drink lots of water and do pleanty of exersize and you should be fine... the only bad thing i do is drink excessivly and you will find people telling you not to but its all well as long and you go bye the steps iv said its nothing new and its not hard..

basical

DONT over eat

"OR"

under eat

Just eat whats good for you.. and dont be scared to have maccas ones in a while just not every week.. and make it sumthing simple like a cheese burger or a meal from there lite** chioce menu..

________________________________________________

i am friends with a few austrilian models and supermodels and there not STICK like there beautifully healthy its amasing...

_________________________________________________

ox.Cass

Jenna

Wayne Cooper may be a bit of a windbag — but he's right on this one. The model in the photo would, by New York/Paris/Milan/London standards, be just average in size. The Australian fashion industry does tend to use more "athletic" looking models than more high-fashion markets.

Cooper went on to say that models are, in a way, like athletes. Professionals genetically qualified to perform a specific job. You have to be tall and lithe to play basketball. You have to be short and musclebound to lift weights. You have to be in the bounds of "obese" to play American football (or at least, 60% of starting players in the NFL are). You have to be tall and skinny to be a catwalk model. Why don't people simply accept that, for this kind of modeling, the general beauty standard has always been a tall, small body? Demanding short or overweight women be given their chance to walk the runway is like demanding short or overweight basketball players be given their chance to start with the Lakers.

When I see media people talking about banning football players with BMIs over 35 from the field, I'll have some sympathy with those who think it's okay for a government to regulate whom fashion labels can choose to represent their goods on the runway. Until then, it's just another argument that sees women and their bodies as objects to control and cajole into meeting arbitrary societal standards. Who are we to decide someone is "too thin" for a given job?

jackandjill

Wayne Cooper is an idiot. First he announced (on radio from memory) that he didn't want fat girls wearing his clothes (ie anyone over a size 14), then he was briefly on the ill fated Aussie version of What Not to Wear, where he came across as a patronising wanker and amusingly, hypocritical, as he has a bit of a belly himself.

I'm boycotting his clothes. He deserve to go broke (again).

Kim

All true. However, unfortunately this is not the type of publicity that AFW should be striving for. There is no excuse to put models on the catwalk like the one in the picture above. These are the types of problems that will only hinder AFW not help it. It's a shame really.

Australian Fashion Week ignores pleas to ban skinny models

Australian Fashion Week ignores pleas to ban skinny models - Comments

Related Stories

Came straight to this page? Visit Catwalk Queen for loads more stories!