Model Behavior

The Times Online recently published a story about a movement in Spain to end the super-skinny body image projected by rail-thin models and tiny dress sizes in window displays. The Spanish Health Minister and major players in the Spanish fashion industry, such as the owners of Zara and Mango, agree that the increasing number of anorexia and bulimia cases signal that measures should be taken to adjust the highly unrealistic standards of fashion designers. While it's not clear exactly how they plan on doing this, even acknowledging that there might be a connection between the fashion industry and young women's self-image at all is a big step.

"They are to move away from what they call the 'dictatorship of size 36' (about an 8 in British measurements) by exploring ways to avoid promoting the image of emaciated women, including the withdrawal of smaller-sized clothes from shop window displays.

With the backing of the Spanish fashion industry and designers, the Spanish Government has begun an investigation into the problem. A report is expected in three months."

Wait, what? Are they for real? The whole story is surprising on so many levels: businesses making decisions not entirely based on the bottom line (although I'm sure they know the good will they will generate with their customers could convince them to shop at their stores more often), the government and the fashion industry working together even before the investigation has produced any results, and the fact that a size eight is considered too thin in England (can you imagine if a model was a size eight by American measurements? Their agency would drop them in a second, but it would be okay because they'd actually have a little bit of booty to cushion the fall).

My favorite part of the story was this: "They are likely to suggest self-regulatory measures for the fashion industry such as raising the sizes of clothes that are displayed in shop windows and ending the careers of the super-thin models."

Isn't that last part great? It sounds so sinister and even threatening, like it should be accompanied by a shot of Kate Moss with scary sound effects: duh duh duuuhhh...

Wait, it gets even better: "In Andalusia, in southern Spain, shops are banned from displaying clothes that are smaller than size 38, in a move to stop women who might have put on a pound or two from feeling that they are no longer fashionable."

Awwww, they're so compassionate just because women "might have put on a pound or two." Don't you want to give Andalusia a big hug?

On the flip side, the Model Blog argues that the fashion industry is being unfairly blamed for eating disorders that could be caused by many other factors. (Note that their title is "Fashion industry under attack," compared to the Times' headline, "Fashion is forced to act on anorexia.") They make the following comparison:

"Painters often depict horrific violence and blood shed, yet they are not blamed for wars or crime."

OK, it's not exactly graceful, but I think the point they're trying to make is somewhat clear. When does the fashion industry's responsibility end, and personal accountability begin? If young girls are hurting themselves to look like the models in magazines, where are the parents to explain how fashion advertising works?

Unfortunately, there's a flip side to influential cultural contributions - if artists can be praised for shaping the way we see, think and feel about the world around us in positive ways, then they can sometimes also be criticized for doing so in negative ways, whether it's done fairly or not. Which is where the Model Blog (no specific author is credited, so I have to keep referring to it as the Model Blog) is choosing to wear blinders. How many people blamed Marilyn Manson for the Columbine tragedy because the violent teenagers listened to his music? It's not that those people were right in doing so, but the fashion industry is hardly the first artistic medium to be blamed for collective behavior.

More problematic is the Model Blog trying to paint the fashion industry as one big victim. Honestly, who feels sorry for anyone involved with fashion at all? With so many depressing stories coming at us on TV, the radio and the Internet every day, it's hard to reserve sympathy for people who get to paid to design, wear and talk about clothes all day.

Plus, who exactly in this big, bad fashion industry is really to blame? Leni Renton, the "head booker" at a modeling agency, blames the fascination with toothpick models on male designers, saying: "Take Alexander McQueen for example, his clothes are always angular designed and therefore cut to be modeled on skinny women. But then you'll find a female designer like Donna Karen is the opposite of most male designers. She always designs more curvy fashions with real women in mind.”

Right, because Miss Karan's models are so skinny. (See photo at left.) Well, this is an industry where Gisele Bundchen is considered "curvy," after all. Even if Miss Karan has "real women" in mind when designing clothes, she's still using the same blade-of-grass girls in her shows.

Let's face it: the idealization of dangerously thin women spreads beyond any one designer. Which is why the fashion industry in Spain is taking a big risk in trying to change such a universally accepted aesthetic. Even though it's not exactly the fashion Mecca of the world, they're still on the style radar, and everyone from Milan to New York to Tokyo will at least be glancing over their Gucci shoulder bags to see how this campaign affects Spain's business.

This brings us back to the bottom line. While most people are reliably impressed with Spain's efforts, Leonie Barrie at Just Style makes a good point:

"There will also be drawbacks if the issue is self-regulated, since it’ll be all too easy for the industry to slip back to its thinner ways if there are signs of a sales slide."

So, after all the effort is made, after all the mannequins are padded and the models are force-fed entire bites of solid food, you have to wonder what the message will be if this negatively affects sales. After all, isn't the fashion industry and advertising in general based on selling fantasies that people aspire to? Did that Dove's "Real Beauty" campaign last year, endorsed by none other than Oprah, really change anything in the States? (Most American models are still pipe-cleaner beauties, right?)

But I must stop, as this is good news. Now is not the time for cynicism. Now is the time to add that pint of chocolate ice cream to your grocery cart and know that somewhere in Spain a model is doing the exact same thing just so she can stayed employed.