Skinny Models (Still) Reign at New York’s Fashion Week

I published “Good Riddance: Anorexic Models No Longer Reign in Spain” on September 14, 2006. It was the eve of New York Fashion Week.

And I hoped to join far more influential trendsetters in shaming organizers. That is, by highlighting the decision organizers of Madrid Fashion Week made to ban skinny models. 

Skinny models reign

It had no impact. No doubt because Madrid is hardly the world’s fashion trend-setting capital. Indeed, far from setting a new trend, the fashion doyennes of Madrid might face backlash from fashionistas in New York and Paris, who seem terminally vested – commercially and psychologically – in anorexic models.

“However, I was encouraged when the Daily Mail quoted celebrated fashion designer Valentino as follows:

I want a fuller woman, proud of her femininity, with fuller sides, more life, and a fuller bust. Elegant but with more emphasis on the curves. … I think enough is enough with thin models. Recently we have not been watching women on the catwalk but a parade of skeletons. 

(January 24, 2007)

Granted, he’s gay. But still, he’s Valentino!

But I was even more encouraged last month when the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) finally followed Madrid’s fashion. The CFDA declared it would be “issuing guidelines on the issue of skinny models” for all future fashion shows. 

Specifically, the CFDA stated that New York’s biannual Fashion Week would no longer feature skeletal mannequins – like those who’ve dominated fashion runways worldwide in recent years. It suggested that designers should only hire models whose weight aligns with their height. The CFDA explained that this weight should be no more than 15 pounds less than a non-model of equal height.

So, you can imagine my disappointment when I saw pictures of the models at New York’s Winter Fashion Week, which began on Friday. It looked like the designers never received the CFDA’s new guidelines. As Valentino might say, they were still parading skeletons. 

That’s why few are American

Guy Trebay, a Fashion & Style writer for the New York Times, reported that the top 25 models will display the wares of 221 designers this week. He found it alarming that only one of those models is American. I, however, did not.

After all, I’ve read enough to know what it takes to maintain that skeletal look. Models frequently use drugs, smoke cigarettes, and purge food to stay suitable for Haute couture.

These behaviors are more consistent with European, not American, culture. That’s why the models strutting their heroin-chic bodies are predominantly European. 

What about former supermodels Cindy and Tyra?

Of course, Cindy Crawford and Tyra Banks are former American supermodels. But by today’s standards, they would be relegated to the Lane Bryant prêt-à-porter show, where plus-size models strut their stuff. From the haughty perspective of most NYC fashionistas, these models lack the ambition and discipline required to be thin and, therefore, beautiful.

Only last week, Tyra demonstrated how insidious and enduring the pressure to meet their anorexic beauty standards can be. A friend sent me a clip from her eponymous talk show. 

Tyra was reportedly defending “the way most American women look.” But it was after a tabloid published ‘unflattering’ pictures of her looking the way most American women look.

Indeed, Tyra was throwing a hissy fit. She was upset and embarrassed because the paparazzi caught her looking “like her beautiful self.” That is, flaunting the 10-15 pounds she gained naturally after retiring from modeling. 

Of course, she would’ve been flattered if they had published photoshopped pictures of her looking impossibly thin. Why do drugs, smoke cigarettes, and purge food if you can do Photoshop?

Anyway, this fashion week is confirming my fears about no other fashion capital following Madrid’s wholesome fashion. For top models, dying to be thin remains in. So Mamas – don’t let your girls grow up to be fashion models.