Let's get them emaciated and the clothes will do the rest

By Julian Sudre



ALWAYS critics have had a bone to pick; and this time it is those bone-like top models who strut their stuff on the catwalk.
This time the Madrid Fashion week show has flexed its muscle and banned rail-thin looks from media exposure for the first time

Interestingly enough, when Jamie Oliver promotes healthy food in schools so as to fend off obesity – The number of people who are overweight has tripled in the last 20 years – Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has called for stick-thin models to be banned from the catwalk.

Obviously, the fault lies neither in the modelling agencies nor the government but simply in the masses. Not to put too fine a point on it, we are feeding pigs with dross and now the critics, aka the powers that be, believe it is high time to readjust the perception we have of a top-level fashion model.

In reality, people should be free to express themselves, be it in the way of fashion or at home, they have the flexibility to choose for themselves what is in their best interests. But when it comes to being thin so as to resemble a model, I, for one, wish good luck to a nation that is more inclined to have a fridge packed with junk food than fresh fruits and vegetables.

The tall, skinny figure has always been the standard-bearer of catwalk fashion but this year the zeitgeist is to promote an image of beauty and health. In a few broad strokes, we are having a nation torn between anorexia and obesity, now the government is stepping in to avoid a case of extremities.

How about striking a happy medium and selecting the adequate fit, that is, the quality of what is seen as sashaying on a narrow platform in view of the most reactionary pockets? The answer would be, in good measure, more relevant to the quintessence of a well balanced, down-to-earth, all-rounded exemplar of mannequins that exude a certain closeness and accessibility to the aficionados.

Fashion has pegged its whimsical taste at a contradictory level. The utensils used to champion tomorrow’s trends have turned, from celebrities into causes célèbres.
Perhaps we should make light work of those people who wear the clothes on the catwalk and prioritize more the obese community that needs focusing on.

After all, we are here to comment and copy their garments; not to strive to identify with a foundling that landed a job in catwalk fashion.

The clothes are what make someone brims with personality and uniqueness not the bare skeleton that shivers under the weight of the media. It is not the law that should ban skinny models off the catwalk but parents who ought to re-educate their children about the dangers of eating disorders.