Too Skinny in Berlin?

Jul 21, 2008 @ 9:30am

Berlin Fashion Week There's an industry joke that it's always Fashion Week somewhere, and last week was Berlin's turn.

The German city known for its emerging art scene (and apparently its emerging cover of American Vogue starring Keira Knightley) played host to over 20 runways, including Anglomania by Vivienne Westwood, Boss by Hugo Boss, Joop, and Kai Kühne.

Some of the clothes looked amazing, but German press aren't giving the same praise to the girls:

German newspapers are claiming the event ignored rules put in place by the country's Health Minister, saying girls needed to be at least a size two, and over sixteen years old, to walk on runways. The Minister announced before the fashion shows that "[Germany] wants to take a stand against unhealthy body image."

The situation is just a reminder that New York's runways are about a month and a half away - and though we love models as much as any casting director, we hope none of them look sick, either.

posted by guest

Jul 21, 2008 1:33PM

hmm. i don't think saying you have to be bigger than a size 2 is really fair either though, is it? you can be a 0 and be healthy.

good purpose, bad execution.

posted by guest

Jul 21, 2008 3:06PM

I thought they prohibited models with a BMI of 18 or below?
Saying you can't walk if your below a size 2 isn't entirely fair because many models are just naturally petite.

posted by guest

Jul 21, 2008 9:06PM

i agree with the first two. it is important to fairly handle this situation. i would like to see a variety of healthy sizes, which could verily include a size zero. im glad the press touched on the issue though...

posted by alegra

Jul 22, 2008 8:22AM

it's actually been part of a campgane which would translate to "life is weighty" (leben hat gewicht), which is our health minister's slogan for this year, focusing on fighting anorexia.

posted by guest

Jul 22, 2008 2:31PM

It's so typical that politicians wanna have a piece of the cake too and so they try to make some points by being credited for sharing a majority's opinion.
Nevertheless: how are designers supposed to sell their collections with fat models!?
Even H&M models are skinnier!

posted by guest

Jul 22, 2008 10:45PM

I hate to see models starving themselves. I do. I think there needs to be labour legislation in place regulating treatment of models under the age of 18...

but if this is Germany's attempt to promote healthy body image among regular girls, they're WAY off. Anorexia and Bulimia are complicated problems, and are a result of an interaction of psychological problems ( perfectionism, obsessiveness, need for control), and yes, social forces, but mainly from primary social groups (friends, family). I'm sorry to say, but I don't think the modeling industry plays a huge part.

Many girls are praised from a young age for being fit and skinny. Being obese opens you up to ridicule and shame, amongst classmates, but also from adults.

So when a child develops a social understanding that thin is good, fat is bad, and when, in that context, there exists a child who is extremely obsessive and needs to be good all the time, they end up taking it to an extreme and sometimes that means starving themselves.

I became a very restrictive eater when I was 11 or 12. For me, it had a lot to do with control. I liked being hungry, I felt good when my stomach growled. To me, it was a sign of my discipline. I also took a certain degree of satisfaction in being thinner than the other girls, something I had been praise for previously.

Kate Moss and the heroin-chic look of the early-mid 90s didn't register on my radar until after I had developed anomalous eating habits.

I can't say that's true of everyone, but the behaviours of everyone I knew who had eating issues seemed to have been most influenced by the people in their immediate social circle, and their personal proclivities.

Want to improve body image? target that. Not the modeling industry. they're wasting their time.

posted by guest

Jul 23, 2008 7:35AM

You can be a healthy size 0, but not at a model's height. Models aren't petite and to have the measurements of 32 25 35 and smaller when your 5'10" is ridiculous. Commenter 5, I'm a 4-6 and I'm not fat. That makes me believe a size 2 isn't fat either. Please speak for yourself I'd rather see how clothes hang on real people, such as myself, who are going to buy them than mythical creatures.

posted by daisychaindream

Jul 24, 2008 4:07AM

So many people nowadays get penalised for being too skinny. Everyone seems to promote being bigger but they forget that being overweight is just as unhealthy as being overweight. I understand that skinny models don't help others body image but who actually aspires to look like that. I certainly don't know anyone and the fashion industry is, currently, so inaccessable that many people think of it as another world, something unobtainable and almost fairytale like. Truth be told, the clothes that are designed within the fashon industry look decidedly better on thin models and why should they sacrifice a small part of their art?