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NY fashion industry discusses models weight issue |
 The Council of Fashion Designers of America, led by its president, Diane von Furstenberg issued a formal health initiative and guidelines for models to resolve the problem of the anorexic and bulimic models in the American fashion industry . The Council didn’t however ban the super skinny models from the catwalks as fashion houses have done in Milan and Madrid.
The guidelines were created by a committee including CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg, American Vogue editor Anna Wintour, nutritionist Joy Bauer, fitness consultant David Kirsch, Dr. Susan Ice, vice president and medical director of the Renfrew Center, which treats eating disorders, Nian Fish, creative director and senior vice president of fashion publicity and events firm KCD and Louis Chaban, agent at the modeling agency DNA.
Guidelines that were "about awareness and education, not policing" recommended that the fashion industry should "develop workshops on the nature of eating disorders, how they arise, how we identify and treat them, and complications if they are untreated." The document also addresses smoking and under-age drinking. Shows must "promote support the well-being of younger individuals by not hiring models under the age of 16 for runway shows," and to "supply healthy meals, snacks and water backstage."
The CFDA said in a statement that designers "share a responsibility to protect women, and very young girls in particular, within the business, sending the message that beauty is health."
"Although we cannot fully assume responsibility for an issue that is as complex as eating disorders and that occurs in many walks of life, the fashion industry can begin a campaign of awareness and create an atmosphere that supports the well-being of these young women," it said.
Spain was the first country to ban models below a certain weight from Madrid’s Fashion Week, in September 2006. Italy’s government and fashion industry have recently decided to keep models who are sickly thin off the catwalk.
The guidelines were issued by CFDA three weeks before New York's Fashion Week starts Feb. 2.
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