Designers make their designs on the frame of a mannequin which has a certain standard measurement. They want their designs to drape and flow in a certain manner so that it looks the best.
Breasts and hips are their biggest enemies as the fabric kinds of drapes over these regions in a different manner and designers don’t want the audience to be captivated and all their attention diverted towards big breasts and hips. Tall models are preferred as it gives designers more canvas for work. The pre-pubescent figure is preferred in high fashion modeling.
Also, it is much easier to stitch clothes for a slender straight tall figure rather than a voluptuous body. In high fashion (Runway fashion), designers want the attention of the audience to be on the clothes only and not on the model. Thus, the models chosen are mainly those who have strong facial bony structures, are not too beautiful but have a serious face, long necks, and, are skinny.
Clothes are not made as per the size of the models rather, first clothes are made by the designer as per his likes and creativity and then models are chosen according to who can fit those clothes the best and carry them with utmost elegance. Usually, clothes made have a bust size of 32–34 inches, a waist of 22–24 inches, and hips of 32–34 inches which is an American size of 4 (size zero).
A model’s career span Is very short. Usually, they start very young, by about 13–16 years, but can be as young as 11 years. That’s the period when pubertal changes have either not started in their bodies or are in their primitive stages. Their modeling career does not go beyond 25 years and maximum it can be stretched up to 30 years as after that youth starts to fade. Only very established supermodels might continue their careers even after 30 but even then the opportunities will be significantly lesser for them.
Competition is high and new younger faces are pouring in every day in the modeling industry, each having more skinnier figure and virgin hair and skin that has not been exposed to makeup, hair treatment etc. Even in plus size modeling sector which is nothing but comprised of women with normal figures, the range of clothes starts from American size 8 but the average American size is 14.
To stay in the game, models start resorting to unhealthy ways to stay in the shape. They just stop eating, use appetite suppressants, laxatives, and enemas, smoke cigarettes to curb the appetite, and swallow tissue paper or wet cotton balls to produce a sense of satiety. Sora Choi, a Korean model, revealed that she used to stop eating altogether 5 weeks before the fashion week, just drink water or eat half a banana if she could not keep up, and smoke lots of cigarettes to curb her appetite. Red spots used to appear on her body, developing stress-induced inflammatory gastroenteritis, painful joints, and extremely sensitive skin.
Not only Sora Choi but many models stop eating completely before the show to prevent bloating and weight gain and some even revealed that they used to pass out several times a day due to starvation. Models resort to this kind of extremely unhealthy behavior thinking that anyways they have a short career span and then they would have to switch to some other job where they would be able to eat normally.
But sometimes, these unhealthy lifestyles can lead to permanent damage where later they are unable to gain weight during their pregnancy along with side effects of smoking. Models are very much afraid to work out as well as that would lead to them gaining muscle which also adds to body weight and measurements and most of them just don’t have enough energy in them due to continuous strict dieting.
Many models have fallen into the traps of eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa and even lost their lives in their desire to stay in the race due to cardiac arrest, infections etc.
Modeling agencies are more focused on self-interest rather than on the models and take up to 20–50% commission from the model’s earnings. Most of the models are in debt and continue to put up with the torture because they have to pay off the debt and are bound by the one-sided contracts of the agencies. The models practically have no rights or say and can be sacked from the show as per the whims and fancies of the higher authorities.
The preference for skinniness in the modeling industry is somewhat self-perpetuating according to me. The modeling industry is very misogynistic and harsh towards women with most of the designers being men, along with the existence of cut-throat competition among the models themselves to bag the shows. Incidences of sexual harassment and rape are also pretty common. Rather than all the models uniting together to raise their voices against this mistreatment, they themselves compete against one another and try to fit into the unrealistic waifish body image requirements of the designers.
Until and unless strict laws against the employment of underweight unhealthy models are made and strictly implemented combined with all models coming together into a union and raising their voices against mistreatment, no significant progress can be made in this problem.
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