Fashion industry still failing size zero models
The findings of the independent inquiry were published in September. It was headed by Denise Kingsmill, the former deputy chairman of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, and included a panel of representatives from the fashion industry such as Kate Moss’s agent, Sarah Doukas, and designer Betty Jackson.
The BFC is also writing to magazine editors and advertisers about possible curbs on the use of digitally enhanced photos, which the inquiry said could “perpetuate an unachievable aesthetic”, and called on the fashion industry to bring in a voluntary code. A key problem for implementation is that many of the recommendations require international cooperation, particularly in New York, Milan and Paris, which host the most lucrative designers.
The BFC, which owns and organises London Fashion Week, has written to the fashion councils in the US and Italy to establish a requisite international “health certificate” for models, but no agreement has yet been reached. The BFC said it hopes to present a study of how it could be implemented by next June in time for the shows in September 2008.
The recommendation for drug testing backstage and a suggestion that criminal record checks should be mandatory for anyone working with models under 16 has been referred to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Hemlines have risen and fallen this year, but concern about the size zero debate is the one permanent trend in the fashion industry.