Do YOU Think 16 is Too Young to Model? London Does.
So the British Fashion Council (BFC) was set up to orchestrate the Fall London Fashion Week. In March, the BFC set up the Model Health Inquiry (MHI) due to concerns about working and lifestyle problems within the fashion industry. More specifically, the health and working conditions of models within the London Fashion Week extravaganza. The MHI announced the scope, submission and reporting process of their study in May. Early July brought an interim report.
Early findings led to a opinionated statement by the panel’s chairhead, Baroness Kingsmill: it’s inappropriate for models under 16 to be portrayed as women and ultimately, it’s a possibility that the Council will rule against allowing models under 16 to appear in the six-day designer showcase. She even went so far as to say
“We have been given startling medical evidence about the prevalence and impact of eating disorders in certain high-risk industries.
“There was also strongly expressed concern that it is profoundly inappropriate that girls under 16 under the age of consent should be portrayed as adult women.
“The risk of sexualizing these children was high and designers could risk charges of sexual exploitation.” read the BBC article…
So basically, she’s saying that models are hired to promote a sexy, thin, womanly image (let’s not even get into what a paradox that is) and are being treated as though they are walking sexpots? So, what, sometimes drugged, drunk, undernourished girls in sometimes very little clothing are actually still children? Maybe we should stop giving them adult jobs then. Is fashion is the madame of image? Are we all helping promote pimping and starvation?
In a word, yes. Want to debate that? Leave your comment.
london fashion week, model health authority, models, modeling, teen models, sexy, pimps, british fashion council
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:24 pm
[...] Models by Terra Atrill Montreal’s Fashion Week has followed in the footsteps of Spain, Italy and England by banning models under the age of sixteen, as well as those exhibiting signs of an eating disorder [...]