Archive for September, 2006
When Madrid banned extremely thin models from the country’s top fashion show that began this week, it was the kind of measure that European society seemed somehow to be waiting for.
The decision sparked immediate interest from Milan and London to Berlin and Helsinki, prompting controversy among fashion professionals, politicians, in the media and on internet forums.
While millions of women welcomed the measure announced by the Madrid regional authorities and the Pasarela Cibeles fashion show, it irked many fashion professionals who feared that the pressure to use more full-bodied models would affect their image and business.“Thinness is not beauty, but shows some kind of deficiency,” Madrid official Concha Guerra said, but some Spanish fashion professionals counter-attacked.
“Unhealthy women could not even cope with the physical effort that modelling requires,” said Fernando Merino, of a Madrid modelling agency.
Spanish consumers’ associations and groups campaigning against eating disorders had for years pressured the fashion industry to change the look of its models and increase clothes sizes.
With an estimated one million Spanish women suffering or at high risk of developing anorexia or bulimia, even the Senate recommended in 1999 that measures be taken to stem the advance of the sometimes fatal diseases.
Madrid’s Pasarela Cibeles finally took a decision that was virtually unheard of in the fashion world.
Models who started strutting on the catwalk on Monday all have a body mass index — calculated on a height-weight ratio — of at least 18, the limit set by the World Health Organisation for a person to be considered healthy.
A model measuring 1,75m, for instance, must thus weigh at least 56kg.
The 68 would-be models were weighed and checked by doctors, who excluded five as being too thin.
Most designers did not hesitate to comply with the new rules, though some expressed concern that they could affect the Pasarela Cibeles’s international image.
There were, indeed, some signs of that happening. Some of Spain’s most media-prominent models, such as Eugenia Silva, declined to participate, reportedly because they found the weight checks humiliating.
Some fashion-watchers even complained that requesting people to have a certain weight constituted an unconstitutional form of discrimination.
For experts concerned with eating disorders, however, the weight limit set by the Pasarela Cibeles was only a timid first step in the right direction.
The models parading down the Madrid catwalk until September 22 are still very thin compared with the vast majority of Spanish women, who are not anorexics or bulimics, but often waste their energy in vicious circles of obsessive weight-watching, dieting and low self-esteem.
The new policy of the Pasarela Cibeles was welcomed in several European fashion capitals, with British Culture Minister Tessa Jowell urging the London Fashion Week to follow Madrid’s example, and Milan mayor Letizia Moratti criticising “sick-looking” models at her city’s show.
The winners so far, however, were the spectators of the Madrid fashion show, who “like curvy women”, the daily El Mundo observed.
September 21st, 2006
British model Lily Cole has hit back at critics who say she’s too thin to appear at London Fashion Week, insisting she’s healthier than most of the world’s population.
The 18-year-old, who has been lambasted alongside Kate Moss by Britain’s Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell for her skinny frame, warns people should be focusing their attentions on those in worse weight plights.
She says, “When half the world is starving and a good proportion of the other half is suffering from obesity, to put me on the front page is ridiculous.
“I’m fine, I’m healthy, I eat.”
September 20th, 2006
Naomi Campbell’s former assistant has no plans to confront her ex-boss over her abuse allegations, because she’s still scared of the supermodel.
Amanda Brack, who is suing Campbell for abuse, appeared on model-turned-TV presenter Tyra Banks‘ talk show this morning (18 September06) to talk about the hell the angry Brit put her through last year.
Brack, who was 19 when she landed a job as Campbell’s assistant, revealed she quit after four alleged abuse incidents, where she claims she was hit by mobile phones and her passport was stolen.
And she has no wish to meet Campbell face-to-face to discuss the case because she’s still terrified of the temperamental catwalk star.
She said, “I wouldn’t want to meet her again.” Brack told Banks she stayed with her ferocious boss through much of 2005 because Campbell always apologised after her tirades, and her assistant felt sure the model would change.
She added, “When you’re 19 and you’re living in France and you’re a waitress and you get this job for a supermodel and go to New York and you’re travelling in private jets in a celebrity world and people tell you how good a job you’re doing and you’re important and you’re a good assistant, I was so proud.
“She always apologised and hugged me and told me she was sorry and she was just stressed out and I felt like I was important, but (in the end) I was lost.
I didn’t want to leave… because I thought she would change and I realised that she would never ever change.”
September 19th, 2006
‘Too skinny! Too much hair! What do we do with it?’ So said Irina Lazareanu last week, reporting what the fashion world made of her when she first came on the scene. The shaggy Canadian-Romanian supermodel, whose face recalls that of Shelley Duvall and whose coiffure is roughly what Neanderthal man might have ended up with had he popped into Charles Worthington for a blow-dry, lent new meaning to the phrase ‘It Girl’ as she was anointed one at last week’s New York Fashion Week. Spotted at all the best parties, feted in the daily fashion press, Lazareanu became the belle of the seven-day ball.
Some may feel the urge to check her facts (too skinny? Ah yes, that’s like the time they said Rockefeller was too rich), but facts schmacts, the point is: that was before Karl put her in couture. Before Kate took her under her wing. Before Pete went into rehab.
Lazareanu, who was once the drummer in Pete Doherty’s band Babyshambles (they bonded over Oscar Wilde and Nina Simone, and later became lovers), is due to record a solo album this autumn. It will be produced by Sean Lennon. From time to time, she pops into Nicolas Ghesquiere’s studio at Balenciaga (and there is no darlinger darling du jour) to bash out lyrics on an old-fashioned typewriter, inspired by the era of Marianne Faithfull. She has become Ghesquiere’s muse - and the star of the new Balenciaga campaign - and Lagerfeld’s protegee too. Kate Moss, with whom she shares intimate knowledge of the shambolic Doherty, put her in her guest-edited edition of French Vogue and has been, Lazareanu says, her ‘protector’.
Last week, music and fashion were in each other’s pockets from day one (and we’re not talking about what Paris Hilton was up to after-hours at Bungalow 8 ). The festivities opened with a performance in Prada’s SoHo store by the Raconteurs, the new band put together by Jack White, who is married to red-haired model Karen Elson. Meanwhile, New York magazine canvassed young models on whom their ideal mate would be. An overwhelming majority said: a rock star. Presumably that makes it official - bad boys are back in style.
Dare one detect a hint of rubbed-off subversion? Even as Lazareanu was declaring that she looked forward, very much, to seeing Anna and Oscar (that’s Wintour and de la Renta to you), others were biting off the establishment luminaries’ heads. In the tents at Bryant Park, where snacks patented by the South Beach Diet people are more usual fare, a chic Manhattan bakery called Eleni’s was doling out graven cookies in the images of Wintour, de la Renta, Diane von Furstenberg and Vera Wang.Meanwhile, the irrepressible sexagenarian party girl Betsey Johnson, sometime mentor to Edie Sedgwick and ex-wife of Velvet Undergrounder John Cale, introduced an edible element in her Babycakes collection. All along the catwalk, cafe tables in lieu of a front row were draped with pink tablecloths and piled high with pink-iced, ‘BJ’-inscribed cupcakes. Girls for whom merely looking at such concoctions would be career suicide marched past in romper suits reminiscent of Thirties St Tropez. At the show’s close, your sweet-toothed correspondent observed with improper joy how many of the cupcakes remained uneaten and overrode dietary protocol to swoop down and grab one. Planet fashion took on a speedy, sugar-induced aura as the turret of rosy buttercream settled into her system. ‘Think pink’ was surely never meant to taste so good.
September 18th, 2006
Former supermodel Christie Brinkley began divorce proceedings against her fourth husband, architect Peter Cook, his attorney said on Thursday. Brinkley served her husband with a summons, Cook’s lawyer, David Aronson said.
“Last night we accepted service of the summons,” he said, explaining that marked the first step in moving ahead with a divorce.
Brinkley’s lawyer, Eleanor Alter, could not be reached for comment. Brinkley and Cook, 47, announced in July they were separating after 10 years of marriage. The announcement followed revelations Cook had an affair with a teenager whom he had hired to work in his firm.
Brinkley, 52, was previously married to artist Jean-Francois Allaux, singer Billy Joel and real estate developer Richard Taubman. Brinkley’s career as an all-American supermodel has spanned more than three decades. She has appeared on more than 500 magazine covers, in numerous television shows and been a spokeswoman for charitable and activist groups.
September 18th, 2006
London Fashion Week organisers are refusing to ban skinny models from the catwalk, despite furious opposition from politicians.
Britain’s Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has called for an end to “stick thin” models, including Kate Moss and Lily Cole, who have a body mass index (the ratio of height to weight) of less than 18.
Her warning comes after the death of the Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos of heart failure following an intense two-week diet. The news prompted Madrid City Council to impose the ban for its fashion week in Spain.
Jowell says, “The fashion industry’s promotion of beauty as meaning stick thin is damaging to young girls’ self image and to their health.” However, the London Fashion Council, who is organising this week’s fashion extravaganza in the British capital, says, “We do not comment or interfere in the aesthetic of any designer’s show.” Kate Moss’ agent, Sarah Doukas, adds, “Who knows what (body mass index) means apart from your doctor? “I believe girls should just eat healthily, exercise and just be normal.”
September 17th, 2006
New York has no plans to follow in the footsteps of Madrid authorities and ban models from the runway if they are too skinny, a top industry official said overnight as fashion week here wrapped up. Stan Herman, a designer and president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, said such a ban was the type of discrimination that in the United States would likely result in legal action.
“It would be the same as banning somebody who’s too fat,” he said.
“Those people could sue, in America they could sue everywhere for prejudice or discrimination,” he said. “I wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot pole.”
He said the issue had not even been seriously raised in New York.
“No, no, no, never. And if it is, it’s subliminal, people really don’t talk about it,” he said.
“There was talk some years ago when a lot of models were caught with cocaine and all that stuff, there was a lot of press about that, and we took it seriously… But that’s the only time we’ve ever touched that,” he said.
Spanish authorities have said they will bar overly-skinny models from a major Madrid fashion show next week for fear they could send the wrong message to young girls.
City authorities, working with a Spanish health organisation, came up with a minimum height-weight ratio that models would have to meet.
September 17th, 2006
Organizers of Spain’s top annual fashion show on Saturday rejected five models as too thin to appear in this year’s event, acting on an earlier decision to bar extremely thin women from the catwalk.
The show, known as the Pasarela Cibeles, decided on Sept. 8 not to allow women below a predetermined body mass to height ratio to take part.
Doctors Susana Monereo of Spain’s national endocrinology society and Basilio Moreno, obesity consultant of Gregorio Maranon hospital, were among specialists called on to medically assess the models’ suitability.
The doctors told journalists that of 68 models who evaluated, five failed to meet the new criteria.
“They had a body mass index below — well below — that which is considered normal not just by the Spanish endocrinology society, whom we represent, but also by the limits set by the World Health Organization,” said Monereo. “They were persons above 175 centimeters (5 feet 7 inches) tall and weighing less, or much less, than 55 kilograms (121 pounds).”
Each model had been allowed to appear at the examination accompanied by an agent and a representative from the fashion industry, Moreno said.
Show organizer, Cuca Solana, said that some well-known models had not gone to the examination.
The show, which is due to start Monday and end Friday, wants to project an image of beauty, elegance and health, Solana said.
In this spirit, a decision was taken to exclude models that paraded gaunt, emaciated styles. The show also banned makeup that makes models appear wan, Solana said.
The body mass index is a calculation doctors normally apply to study obesity.
In metric it is obtained by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by their height in meters squared. In the English system it is calculated by dividing weight in pounds by height in inches squared, and multiplying that total by 703.
If the resulting number is between 18.5 and 24.9, a person’s weight is normal. Below 18.5 they are underweight. In the case of the Madrid show, organizers rejected women with an index below 18.
September 16th, 2006
A tired looking Paris Hilton failed to set the catwalk alight with her recent modelling gig at New York fashion week. Paris was backstage at the Heatherette fashion show and was being primped and preened for her walk down the catwalk when she lost her rag.
A photographer was busy snapping away backstage when Paris came over all diva like and gave him a warning to leave her alone.
According to the Mirror she said: “Delete that photo or I’ll take your camera.”
A source added: “Paris was having her hair done and wanted no one around her. When another snapper came through, she screamed: “I said no more fucking photos, why do you never fucking listen?”
“Then she accused her security of losing her phone. It was found under her purse.” It must be such a joy to work for this ‘lady’…
September 16th, 2006
Yasmin Le Bon never wants to quit the fashion business. The supermodel - whose career has spanned over three decades - says, despite being 41, she has no intention of giving up her career. She said: “No way am I going to quit! I enjoy it so much they’ll have to drag me away before I quit.”
Yasmin has also admitted to committing the ultimate fashion faux pas when she married Duran Duran frontman Siimon Le Bon in 1985. She explained: “At the time, we were living out of a suitcase so I only had this black number but Simon got all traditional and said I couldn’t wear black. So I ended up wearing the only thing I could buy on Boxing Day - a beige jumper dress. I looked so atrocious I knew he must love me.”
September 15th, 2006
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