Women have complained for years about the lack of diversity in the modeling industry, and while we’ve seen some small improvements, models are still overwhelmingly very tall, very thin, very young, and very white. However, a recent study might provide companies with just the motivation they need to change their ways: women spend a lot more money when they see clothes on models and mannequins with body types similar to theirs. Here’s the lowdown… Keep reading »
“As a high fashion model I have long had a policy of no nudity or partial nudity in my photoshoots. For my recent [Elle Brasil] cover shoot I wore a body suit under a sheer dress, but recently discovered that the body suit was Photoshopped out to give the impression that I am showing much more skin than I actually was or am comfortable with. This was specifically against my expressed verbal and written direction. I’m extremely disappointed that my wishes and contract were ignored. I strongly believe every model has a right to set rules for how she is portrayed and for me these rules were clearly circumvented.”
– Coco Rocha, who has long been one of the more critical voices of the modeling industry, took to her Tumblr to slam the editors/publishers of Elle Brasil, which Photoshopped her against her wishes into a partially nude bodysuit for their cover. This is a little nipple-y looking.
Well, that was ballsy of you, Elle Brasil, to break contract. I’m assuming they’re so used to models being grateful for a magazine cover at all that they don’t think they have to stay true to their word? [Oh So Coco]
Alessandra Ambrosio is the latest celeb to join the naked mama club: the pregnant Victoria’s Secret model posted a black-and-white nude picture of herself on Facebook modeling for Vivara jewelry. Gorgeous, no? [Stylelist]
Nadya was just 13 when she was discovered by a model scout in her native Siberia. She signed a contract, was sent to work the runways in Japan, and ultimately returned to her poor hometown in debt–she spoke no English and no one told her that her living costs would be deducted from her salary. Her story, which is not unlike thousands of other young girls who are caught up in the global modeling machine, is at the center of a new documentary called “Girl Model,” which aims to expose the truth about underage modeling. It’s a truth that can be hard to handle: just watching the two-minute trailer made me feel sick to my stomach … Keep reading »
The battle against photo manipulation, namely within the realm of fashion, is an ongoing one with no end in sight. It seems like more fuel is constantly being fed to the fire: a (stunning) size 10 model depicted as a waifish size zero here, an errant penis there. England was the first to ban an advertisement featuring a malnourished model last year, and it would seem that Israel took notes on the subject. The country gave the go-ahead to a new law on Monday, a mandate that forces all advertisements to explicitly admit to the usage of digital imaging in order to make a model appear slimmer. Liad Gil-Har, an assistant to one of the law’s sponsors, said, “We want to break the illusion that the model we see is real.” Keep reading »
If you ever entertain the notion that modeling as a job must be a piece of cake kale, think again. We’ve seen so many models trip, stumble, and cry on the runway at this point, it’s practically old news, but every time it happens it’s impossible to look away. At yesterday’s Melbourne Fashion Festival, so many models removed their platform stilettos midway down the runway that it almost seemed like an organized revolution. I don’t know exactly how many girls participated, but it was apparently enough for Australian news sources to refer to the situation as a “silent protest” or a “runway revolt.” Seeing as this is the alternative, I give the models credit for knowing when enough is enough. The CEO of the festival, Graeme Lewsey, expressed his disappointment to the Sydney Morning Herald but he did confirm that “models know, if there’s the slightest problem, they have to remove their shoes for safety.” Indeed: one model told the newspaper that she removed the shoes in fear of “breaking an ankle or worse.” God, I’m so thankful I barely break five feet, but not at all. [Fashionista]
I won’t even pretend to know what’s going on in this Adeen photoshoot starring gender-bending model Andrej Pejic and, uh, two other guys. On Adeen’s website they say Andrej’s hat is an ode to RuPaul who always says on his show that one must have “Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent.” Hmm, I don’t think that’s what most people are going to think when they see that word. [Styleite (NSFW URL and image)]
It goes without saying that occupations in the modeling industry these days come hand in hand with some unrealistically stringent standards, so much so that it’s hard to believe that the runways used to be the territory of fully-grown, reasonably-figured women. In this weird generation, it’s all about the youngest, the tallest, and most importantly, the very thinnest — today’s top models look less like adult women and more like fine-featured science class skeletons. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, sure, with the world’s finest of finery draping from their bones, but the repercussions this ideal has on society are hideous and tragic. Keep reading »
For as long as the modeling industry has boomed, there has been tales of abuse exacted upon fashion models. In some ways, it comes with the territory: it’s a business that banks upon barely nubile girls, frequently but not always sourced from poverty-stricken backgrounds in foreign countries, valued solely for their competency as human clothes hangers. It takes a rare voice to come forward and express the severity of the mistreatment and exploitation, sexual and otherwise, in a production that values above all other things being seen and not heard. Keep reading »
Two years ago, Levi’s debuted their new Curve ID jeans by blasting our eyeballs with ads about their three different “slight curve,” “demi curve,” and “bold curve” shape versions. The sizes ranged from 2 to 14 and each size offered versions for different shaped curves. Some women were apoplectic about Levi’s over these jeans: first, because the tag line was “All asses were not created equal,” and second, because none of the models were particularly curvy. Some critics said a line like “All asses were not created equal” implied that some asses are, in fact, better than others. Another point of contention was why Curve ID ads didn’t have more women of color in their advertisements, since they purported to be for “curvy” girls and plenty of women of color are rocking curves. Keep reading »
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