No Anorexia

In reaction to last season's tirade about skinny models on the runway, Italian women's wear brand Nolita recently launched their controversial ad campaign, featuring a skeletal woman who has suffered from anorexia for 13 years. The woman, photographed by Oliviero Toscani, is Isabelle Caro, a Frenchwoman who weighs just 70 pounds at 5'5". The ad launched just in time for Milan Fashion Week and has sparked much debate across the world.

I doubt this image will keep thin models out of the fashion industry, but perhaps it will focus people's attention to what a healthy body image should be. It's just too bad that time and time again it's the fashion industry that gets targeted as the primary culprit. (Hollywood anyone?)

Many of the models used on the runways are still girls who haven't yet developed those sexy curves that come with becoming a woman. The models work with the world's top photographers, makeup artists, stylists, and re-touchers to create an image for the fashion brand. Fashion photography is an art form. And yes, unapologetically it creates unattainable, but fantastically beautiful images using all the talent and skills of a team of people with a creative vision beyond what most people can possibly dream.

The hiring of models falls on the shoulders of the designers, who have seen possibly hundreds of young models. An experienced eye can tell if a girl is too thin for her own frame and hopefully they are responsible enough to acknowledge it and not hire that girl.

Let's be realistic: ugly people don't sell, but anorexia shouldn't sell either.