Eating Disorders are so high fashion

Last year, Fashion week in Madrid, Spain look very different and sparked a well needed debate among the fashion industry. Madrid's fashion turned away underweight models after protests that these underweight models are pushing Spanish girls and women to try to copy the stick-thin appearance. But how did they decide how thin was to thin? They mathematically calculated the BMI (body mass index) in each of the thinnest models by testing their weight vs. height ratio. All models with a body mass of under 18% were banned from modeling a the event. Organizers said that they wanted to promote a positive image of beauty and health as opposed to the "stick thin look." The Madrid government, the sponsors of the show were responsible for the regulations, regulations which 30% of all the models failed. This was a move which came with many mixed emotions. Some individuals panned it as being unfair to models who happened to be naturally thin, others felt it was a major step towards promoting a healthier image in the fashion industry. To put it into perspective, models are hired to be to living coat hangers and make the clothing as profitable as possible, and designers should be allowed to choose the models they feel represents their clothing as beautifully as possible. Whether or not a designer chooses to use size 0 models or size 6 models is their personal choice, because designers put in far too much effort in their clothing lines to have half of their models sent away at a last minute notice. As an avid fan of high fashion I can fully understand both sides of the issue. I truly agree with Madrid's choice to ban too thin models. Although, i believe that their efforts were unfair to the designers. When Madrid chose to ban these models, they did it last minute which left designers stuck without models immediately before their showcase. To be far to both the Madrid Fashion Week organisers and the designers, the orgranisers should have given the designers much more of an oppurtunity to replace the banned models. I also feel that the BMI test is not a fair representation of which models have eating disorders and which are naturally underweight. Organisers should push the ideals of living a healthy active lifestyle despite what the models weight is, and not simple focusing on what a scale says. I think that this type of fixation towards "weight" and "body fat" is what causes so many girls to feel insecure about how they look. There are many other warning signs in eatuing disorders than simply being underweight and many would agree eating disorder victims appear "sickly" not only thin. I believe that if desingers stress that all of their models appear at routine doctor's appointments and meetings with nutritionists to see to it that all models, inspite of their weight are healthy and reciving proper nutrition. Finally, i have to comend Madrid Fashion Week for taking an initive to promote health in the fashion industry, and i believe their initive could be used as a definite stepping stone for change. Most importantly, i feel that the industry should focus less upon weight and more upon overall health in the industry.