Tuesday, April 15, 2008

France on the way to banning skinny models; pigs seen flying


Yes my friends, it looks like the fashion centre of the world is very close to getting rid of the bony bitches. The Wall Street Journal reports: "The French parliament's lower house adopted a groundbreaking bill Tuesday that would make it illegal for anyone -- including fashion magazines, advertisers and Web sites -- to publicly incite extreme thinness.

The National Assembly approved the bill in a series of votes Tuesday, after the legislation won unanimous support from the ruling conservative UMP party. It goes to the Senate in the coming weeks."

I wonder what kind of standards and tests models will be placed under for them to be deemed "not skinny." The bill is a bit vague on that issue. I can't picture how this is going to work...will the models have to weigh more than 100 pounds? Will size four become the new two? This is crazy talk!

And, get this: "It would give judges the power to imprison and fine offenders up to $47,000 if found guilty of "inciting others to deprive themselves of food" to an "excessive" degree."

Naturally, the fashion industry is in an uproar. I can't picture Karl Lagerfeld giving in to this law.
Didier Grumbach, president of the influential French Federation of Couture, said: "Never will we accept in our profession that a judge decides if a young girl is skinny or not skinny. That doesn't exist in the world, and it will certainly not exist in France."

The problem is that Paris Fashion Week makes a lot of money and the law overlooks the age and weight of models because super-thin, young girls are in high-demand. I have a feeling that this law isn't going to do much. Real change has to come from the designers and magazine editors.

(Photo: Style.com)



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