Filippa Hamilton, size 4 model, fired for being too fat

**word** · October 14th, 2009, 12:18 PM

A 5'10", 120-pound model is claming she was canned by Ralph Lauren because she was deemed too large."They said I couldn't fit in their clothes anymore," Filippa Hamilton, a size 4, said on the Today show Wednesday.

Hamilton - a 23-year-old Swedish-French model who worked for the company for eight years - said a letter was sent to her agent in April. It read: "We're terminating your services because you don't fit into the sample clothes that you need to wear."

A Ralph Lauren spokesperson denies Hamilton was axed over her weight, insisting that her termination "was a result of her inability to meet the obligations under her contract with us."
But Hamilton said, "I did everything that I could. I was very loyal to them. I was on time every time."

Hamilton said on the Today show that she had no intention of going public with her complaint until she discovered a Photoshopped image of her in a mall in Japan. The shot appeared on the Internet site BoingBoing.com.
The image, which featured the Ralph Lauren logo, showed an emaciated woman whose head was bigger than her hips.
"They Photoshopped her in a way that for me is grotesque and makes her look like a cartoon," Geoffrey Menin, Hamilton’s attorney, told NBC News. "The trouble is that it's damaging to her. Who wants to hire somebody that looks like that?"

Ralph Lauren removed the ad and legally moved to demand that the images be taken off the Web, according to the Today show. In a statement, the company said: "We have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman’s body."
Still, Hamilton said the distorted image drove her to speak out.
"It's not a good example when you see this picture, every young woman is going to look at it and think that it is normal to look like that. It’s not,” she said on the Today show. "I saw my face on this super-extremely skinny girl, which is not me. It makes me sad. It makes me think that Ralph Lauren wants to have this kind of image. It's an American brand ... and it's not healthy, and it's not right."

News – Size 4 Model Fired for Being Too Fat – Healthy Lifestyle – UsMagazine.com

**greysfang** · October 14th, 2009, 12:21 PM

OMG, why is this gross cow complaining? Its painfully obvious she's been stuffing her pie hole with carbs and gravy.

**czb** · October 14th, 2009, 12:26 PM

Originally Posted by word

" . . . every young woman is going to look at it and think that it is normal to look like that. It’s not,” she said on the Today show. . . .

i doubt that anyone would look at the pic and think that it was normal. she should sue, not for wrongful termination, but for the photoshop butchering they did of her pic. but she probably doesn't have legal grounds.

**Laxmobster** · October 14th, 2009, 01:02 PM

Wasn't RL suing BoingBoing for copyright infringement at first? But now they claim they made the error and are taking down the picture in question. Makes me think they did want that image portrayed and only after she and other spoke up, did they backtrack... Or maybe I'm interpreting this all wrong, I don't know.

**czb** · October 14th, 2009, 01:08 PM

^^^ yeah, i think you are right. and i doubt that RL initially had a problem with it. but i saw the segment this morning with filippa, she was wearing something baggy so i couldn't tell her size.

**MrsDark** · October 14th, 2009, 01:12 PM

I'm relieved that this is what she really looks like. You can't see it all cause she's wearing a flowy dress, but that body actually looks pretty good to me. 5'10" and 120# is too fat? No more Ralph Lauren anything here.

**czb** · October 14th, 2009, 01:26 PM

well, i couldn't tell from the today show segment if that was her current weight or her past weight. because she was wearing something loose i couldn't tell her size but she didn't look chub. i do know that she didn't look cute, her face was kinda rough up close.

**FashionVictim** · October 14th, 2009, 01:59 PM

she's stunning

**Penny Lane** · October 14th, 2009, 02:49 PM

At least she recognizes it's not right... other models would starve themselves down to nothing and crawl back to Ralph begging for their job back.

**bellini** · October 14th, 2009, 02:54 PM

The whole situation is weird. The model has worked for RL since she was fifteen years old. She's consistently stayed at 120 pounds. They put out that 'shopped ad and it caused a huge backlash. Then they fire her, even though she hadn't gained any weight.

Ann Curry sucks as an interviewer. The model, whether it was because her English is poor or she is stupid, couldn't explain it very well and Ann could not get it out of her. She said she didn't know if she would sue. I'd totally sue if nothing about me had changed and they said I couldn't perform my job? Weird situation.

**Annika** · October 14th, 2009, 02:56 PM

^^^oh you beat me to it.

she said in the interview that she has been the same weight since she was 15. so she hasn't changed, their standards have.

she will probably get more exposure now and become 'famous' for a while. probably a good PR move on her part. (unless she's now seen as a backstabber in the industry)

**Mr. Authority** · October 14th, 2009, 03:11 PM

Originally Posted by greysfang

OMG, why is this gross cow complaining? Its painfully obvious she's been stuffing her pie hole with carbs and gravy.

I know right? Instead of pigging out on Taco Bell and Starbucks, she should've been eating Ex-Lax cocktails and cigarettes to keep her ass from exploding.

No but seriously, when did 120lbs become "fat" in fashion? Christ...

**Cali** · October 14th, 2009, 04:39 PM

Whats funny is that someone claiming to work for Ralph Lauren told the exact same story a few weeks ago. I totally believe she was fired for gaining weight. Here:

littletater
10/07/09

I used to work for the company, especially with the color corrections & post production departments - and can comment on the Filippa image as well as the polo images: for one, the polo images are usually corrected from an already existing image. whoever requested the color correction probably used a darker color as a reference, as Zombie Ms. Skittles said. as for the horrible, stretched out image - the model had gained weight, and RATHER than book another model, use camera trickery, WHATEVER, they went with awkwardly Photoshopping her body to look thinner and thereby ridiculously freakish. The image was pulled after numerous internal complaints.
Ralph Lauren's Ridiculous Photoshop; More Ridiculous Rage - Filippa hamilton - Jezebel

I can't really find many pics of her that aren't photoshoots, to compare to see if she did gain some minimal amount of weight. But here are a few pics:

Backstage at the Ralph Lauren Spring 08 show:

Spring 06:

Jill Stuart Spring 02; Ralph Lauren 02:

ETA- This really sucks. I always admired her ads for Ralph Lauren because she was so beautiful, but she was healthy looking.

**JuicyLucy** · October 14th, 2009, 04:54 PM

She reminds me alittle of Brooke Shields.

**MrsDark** · October 14th, 2009, 06:57 PM

I remember in the 80's when Brooke Shields was at the height of her modeling career and everyone used to be in awe of how naturally tall and thin she was. She was 5'11" and 125# back then. About the equivalent of this broad. She does remind me a bit of Brooke (only not as pretty in the face as Brooke was).

Sad. Models are gross today. In the face and body. You couldn't pay me to look like the majority of those runway models. And Ralph Lauren sucks ass.

Just for comparison...

Christ, what a fatass!