Anorexia & bulimia worry Government and fashion industry
24 Apr '06
4 min read
Models and shop manquins will get larger, as a responsible new gesture sweeps the lean look on one side. Sight of wafer-thin models on Spanish catwalks could soon be a thing of the past.
In the midst of swelling worry about the rise in cases of anorexia and bulimia, the so-called slimming diseases, bosses of Spain's biggest fashion companies are to put an end to the ultra-skinny look.
Spanish fashion industry and designers have given their assent to move away from what they call the tyranny of size 36 inches and are trying to explore all possibilities, such as avoidance of promoting the image of thin women; even removal of smaller-sized clothes from shop window displays.
After years of calls for action, Spanish Government has begun an inquiry into the problem. A report is expected in few months.
Elena Salgado, the Spanish Health Minister, has raised the issue at meetings with industry leaders like Pablo Isla, Chief Executive of Inditex, which owns Zara and Massimo Dutti among other companies; Ignacio Sierra, Chief Executive of the department store chain El Corte Inglés; Juan Hermoso, Corporate Director of the fashion chain Cortefiel; and Judith Ventura, the design coordinator for Mango.
Among the probable self-regulatory recommendatory actions for the fashion industry include raising the sizes of clothes that are displayed in shop windows and curtailing careers of the super-thin models.
In some parts of Spain, they have not waited for Madrid to take action. In a move to stop women who might have put on a pound or two from feeling that they are no longer fashionable, shops are banned from displaying clothes that are smaller than size 38, in Andalusia, in southern Spain.
marketing@alchempro.com
