Models under the age of 16 will be banned from participating in catwalk shows and photoshoots according to new industry guidelines. The British Fashion Council's (BFC) official report on the issue of size zero models is due to be released this Wednesday and featuring high on the list will be an age restriction on modelling. "The age limit will mean that teenagers hoping to follow in the footsteps of Kate Moss, Lily Cole and Naomi Campbell, who all began modelling at 14 or 15, will no longer be used to sell clothes," reports The Observer.
Interestingly, a size zero ban will not form part of the BFC's report. "Banning size zero models isn't the whole answer. The taller, younger and skinnier that someone is at the same time, that is a risk to health. But you can also be very slender and very healthy. You can't tell if someone is unhealthy just by looking at them," said Susan Ringwood, chief executive of Beat an eating disorders campaign group.
The intermin report titled the 'Model Health Inquiry' will also recommend better health and nutritional advice for models in a bid to improve working conditions and educate model agents about eating disorders. Members of report's 'task force' include Giles Deacon, Erin O'Connor, Betty Jackson and Sarah Doukas, head of Storm Models.
The ban on under-16 models may affect young models such as New Zealand's Katie Braatvedt (pictured above right) who was recently at the centre of a row after she appeared on the cover of Australian Vogue magazine aged 15 years old.
[Source/IMG]
Related: British Fashion Council officially launches size zero inquiry | Another model dies of malnutrition