The Associated Press reports seeing fewer protruding bones on runway models this Fashion Week. Nian Fish, chair of a fashion designers’ health initiative, says models are sizes 2 and 4 this time around rather than a size 0 and that designers didn’t cast prepubescent 13-year-olds. James Aguiar, who hosts Full Frontal Fashion, says he’s noticed curvier girls and more smiles on runways. We agree on the smiles which models cracked left and right in some shows. But are models really healthier? Maybe we haven’t seen as many jutting bones as seasons past, but make no mistake — these girls are skinny. And some were still so gaunt-looking our jaws literally dropped when they walked by.
Organizations like the National Eating Disorders Association still seem to think the CFDA’s model health initiative isn’t doing enough to ensure models are healthy, and continue to push for a measure that would require models to present certificates from doctors asserting they don’t have eating disorders. “They do drug testing for sports. Why? To keep competition clean but hopefully also to save lives. That’s what we want, too,” NEDA CEO Lynn Grefe told the AP. Diane Von Furstenberg says the CFDA initiative is meant to raise awareness “as opposed to throwing those poor girls on a scale and terrifying them even more.” Both women have a point.
So, what do you think? Do models look healthier this season?