Milan bans ultra-skinny models from catwalk

[Bling]

MILAN (Reuters) - The Italian fashion capital Milan has formally barred ultra-skinny and under-age models ahead of its February catwalk shows, as the fashion world comes under pressure to promote a healthier image.

The agreement signed on Monday between the city and its powerful fashion industry bans models under 16 and those with a body mass index of less than 18.5 from Milan's shows.

The accord also includes courses on healthy eating and exercise and calls for a variety of clothing sizes in shows.

"The agreement is the result of a common effort ... to share and to communicate to our young people the importance of positive models of living," Milan mayor Letizia Moratti said in a statement.

Body mass index is the ratio of weight to the square of height -- so that a 1.73 m (5 foot 8 inch) model who weighed less than 55.4 kg (122 lb) would be barred.

The accord is broadly in line with a manifesto issued by the national government and Italy's fashion chiefs on Saturday, and due to be signed this week.

Spain barred models below a certain weight from Madrid's shows in September. This month Brazil launched a campaign to ban under-age, underweight models from shows in response to the death of a Brazilian model from complications due to anorexia.

Milan's fashion houses at first resisted calls to follow the Spanish example. Mario Boselli, the head of Italy's National Fashion Chamber, said in September that only "maybe one girl in a hundred" of the models on show could be defined as too skinny.

But Boselli, whose lobby group represents such big names as Armani, Versace and Prada, agreed to work with the government on a self-regulatory code of good practice.

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[Guest saintjohn]

Requiring a minimum age (16) for runway models seems like a good idea, but BMI is a poor indicator of "wellness" for certain body types (long-distance runners, et cetera). Also, I'm concerned that such artificial weight requirements will encourage models to binge before Fashion Week and then starve themselves for advertising and editorial work afterwards - a cycle which would be even worse than simply being "too thin."

[Guest Devilicious]

Requiring a minimum age (16) for runway models seems like a good idea, but BMI is a poor indicator of "wellness" for certain body types (long-distance runners, et cetera). Also, I'm concerned that such artificial weight requirements will encourage models to binge before Fashion Week and then starve themselves for advertising and editorial work afterwards - a cycle which would be even worse than simply being "too thin."

Exactly... 5' 8" and 120 can be perfectly healthy.

[Guest saintjohn]

If the bureaucrats in Milan really want to improve the health of fashion models, they should get them to quit smoking. I was at a photo shoot on Friday - the model never had any water or food, but she did take three cigarette breaks.

Anyway, here's a paragraph from the Wikipedia entry on Body Mass Index:

Individuals who are not sedentary - especially athletes - as well as children, the elderly, the infirm, and individuals who are naturally endomorphic or ectomorphic (i.e., people who don't have a medium frame) are ill-fitted to assessment using the BMI. Or to state the problem more accurately, the BMI measurements at which these people may be underweight, overweight or obese are different from sedentary mesomorphs whose ages are between about 20 and 70.