I have never liked thin models on the catwalk, says Giorgio Armani
By BETH HALE & NICK PISA Last updated at 08:57am on 13th November 2006
One of the world's most famous fashion designers yesterday became the first to speak out against the use of stick-thin models.
Giorgio Armani urged the fashion industry not to use 'size zero' models in an effort to curb the rise in eating disorders among young women.
'The time has now come for clarity,' he said. 'We all need to work together against anorexia.'
He accused some designers of exploiting underweight models to get publicity, condemning those 'who like to provoke, who like to make a show so they get talked about'.
He said: 'I have never liked thin girls and I have never made them go on the catwalk.'
His comments follow calls for size zero models - equivalent to a British size four - to be banned from fashion shows.
The debate started after Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos dropped dead from heart failure minutes after stepping off the catwalk. The slender 22-year-old had spent three months on a near-starvation diet to lose even more weight.
In the wake of her death, models with a body mass index (BMI) of 18 or under were banned from Madrid Fashion Week.
BMI is calculated by taking your weight in kilograms and dividing it by your height in metres squared. A BMI of 18.5 or below is classed as underweight by the World Health Organisation.
Marianne Berglund, one of the finalists from Five's Make Me A Supermodel series, had a BMI of just 16.1, leading to her being nicknamed 'the walking skeleton'. At 5ft 10in, she weighs just eight stone
(112 pounds or 50.8 kilos) and has a 241/2-in waist.
While health experts and commentators agree that stick-thin models should not be allowed to appear at fashion shows, the top designers have remained silent. The news that Armani - one of the most instantly recognisable names in fashion - has entered the debate is bound to raise eyebrows.
The Italian, who is designing the outfits for the wedding of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, said he did not use thin girls in his shows.
'At my shows you will find girls in size 42 outfits (the equivalent of a UK size 14),' he said. 'I choose very feminine women with little breast and straight hips because that is my aesthetic philosophy.
'However, there are others out there who like to provoke, who like to make a show so they get talked about.
'I have never liked these excesses and I have always condemned them. We need to all work together against anorexia.'
Armani's statement followed an appeal from Italy's Sport and Youth Minister Giovanna Melandri to fashion houses to drop the 'thin is beautiful' line.
All the models taking part in Milan Fashion Week next year will need to produce certificates showing they are in good health.
And the organisers of Rome's fashion week in January have announced that they want to see 'fleshier' models. It remains to be seen if Britain will follow suit.
At London Fashion Week, this year, one anonymous designer said: 'I would never knowingly use a model who was anorexic, but the simple fact is that we employ these girls as moving coat-hangers.
'We're not looking for sex appeal or to hold a mirror up to the woman on the street, we are trying to shift clothes to the store buyers.
'I personally think that a slender figure is the best way to show them off.'
Last month, 40 doctors and specialists from London's largest eating disorders clinic signed an open letter to the British Fashion Council criti-cising the use of super-thin models who are 'clearly anorexic'
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Giorgio Armani never liked thin models
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