Health check call for 'zero models'

THE government last night waded into the debate on extremely thin models, saying they should be kept off the catwalk.

As London Fashion Week prepared to start today, culture secretary Tessa Jowell also said models should be given medical checks before hitting the runways.

Jowell said she did not want to see government legislation to ban 'size zero' models, but thought the fashion industry should take action itself to avoid promoting unhealthy body shapes.

As a fashion phenomenon the highly contentious size zero has attracted heated responses from designers and models alike over the last 12 months.

Jowell said: "I do not think that young women who are being made ill by the requirement to be thin should then be paraded on the catwalk, any more than I think girls under 16 should be paraded on the catwalk."

Jowell's reaction comes in the wake of Milan and Madrid banning size zero from their fashion shows last year.

The Americanised size zero - the equivalent to a British size four in women's clothing and tantamount to a 31.5in bust, a 23in waist and 34in hips - has long been controversial but was given particular attention last August when a Uruguayan model, Luisel Ramos, 22, died of heart failure after starving herself. In November, a 21-year-old Brazilian model, Ana Carolina Reston, died from anorexia.

Yesterday Jowell cautioned against a simple ban on models under a certain weight or body mass index. Women like British model Erin O'Connor should not be penalised if they were fortunate enough to be able to stay skinny while eating normally, she said.

Asked whether she thought London Fashion Week should have doctors check models' health before they took to the catwalk, she said: "I think it is for the industry to make these decisions, but the short answer is yes. I am very glad that Madrid, Milan, Brazil and New York have all taken a stand on this - not a legislative stand, but a very clear stand within the industry, and I am glad that our industry is doing the same.

"There are models, famous models, like an extremely beautiful woman Erin O'Connor, who eat normally but are just very fortunate - unlike the rest of us - in that if they eat normally they don't put on weight," she said.

"You have to factor that in, so any decision by the industry has to focus on thinness which is making the model ill, rather than simply an arbitrary measurement."

Jowell said research suggested young girls' self-esteem was being damaged by pictures of thin women presented as role models in magazines.

"We have done some pretty good research on this, and there is plenty of other research showing the association between young women looking at magazines and very skinny models and their self-esteem falling," she said.

Last year, Madrid Fashion Week banned underweight models. Milan followed suit with a code of conduct to stop anorexic-looking models being used in shows. The Spanish ban covers any models with a body mass index (BMI) less than 18.

Last month the British Fashion Council defied the government by resisting a ban on size zero women taking part in its shows but said it was set to create a task force to tackle the problems of the industry.

The British Fashion Council is urging designers to use only "healthy" models aged 16 and over in their shows. It is setting up a task force to create new guidelines for the fashion industry. A spokesman said: "The BFC recognises its responsibility to promote a healthy body image. We believe that regulation is neither desirable nor enforceable.

"What will make a difference is the commitment of the fashion industry to change attitudes through education."

Last night, Jowell's intervention was met with mixed response from fashion experts.

Mary McGowan, founder of the Scottish Style Awards, said fashion lovers should be allowed to make their own decisions. "The fashion industry is there to sell clothing and the reality is often that these clothes look better on tall, skinny women. That said, some of the models currently on the catwalk can look skeletal and that's not promoting a healthy body image at all. Do I agree skinny models should be vilified for appearing on the catwalk? No. People should be allowed to make up their own mind."

Scottish-based fashion commentator John Davidson said politicians had no place deciding what appeared on the runway. "I do not hold with the view that the government should pass comment on who should or should not be a fashion model. In fact I feel quite strongly that the size, shape and height of models should be fairly low down in their list of priorities - they surely have more important things to be worrying about," he said.

"It should be treated like any other job: if you are ill you do not go in. That is a personal choice. As poor role models go, I would argue that models are far from the worst culprits - the influence of celebrity culture is undoubtedly worse."