I spent the evening listening to Lily Cole revealing the underside of fashion last night – here’s the full story.
Lily was the teenage model at the eye of the media storm over ‘size zero’ models. They are blamed for creating unattainable images of beauty. The accusation was that teenage girls (and boys) would feed the epidemic of eating disorders in their desperate efforts to emulate their skinny heroines (and heros) of the catwalk and magazine shoot.
Lily, who is a charming and intelligent woman, said that it was a real problem:
“I do think that it is worrying. I went to one show in Milan and was told that I was too fat!”
But she thinks that the fashion industry and society share the fault.
“It’s a vicious cycle. Fashion responds to society. It creates images but the public is also to blame for buying it.”
And what about drugs and fashion? Is that all the fault of the highly competitive nature of the business?
“No, I know cooks and accountants with more stress. There might be just as much drugs in those jobs. But it’s the way that fashion is perceived because it is associated with drugs.”
I must confess now that Lily was actually talking as part of a fascinating centenary debate at the London College of Fashion on a panel debating the dark side of fashion.
More tomorrow from that evening – including why Roland Mouret thinks we should all go naked for a week on the beach every year…
i think that size zero models should be banned because they are only skin and bone they should eat some food because there is people in uganda and other places where they hardly have food and clean water but models they have the money to buy food if these so called models want to be size zero send them over to uganda and other poor countries and let the people from other countries take their places where the poor can have the experience that we have had so i say let them ban size zero models.
I would love to be a model but i would h8 to be a size zero becoz they look ill yeh ok some of them can be gorjus but some just look like a bag of bones i think tht it is better to look healthy like a size 6,8,10 not zero becoz weight is putting so much prsseure on young people to look like their favourite models tht it is getting out of hand and encouraging anorexia it would be better for health if you was the right size a healthy weight and it would look 100% better
the modeling industry is a tough one. one of the toughest. there are certain rules that need to be followed. models HAVE TO BE SKINNY.
they are suppose to be blank canvases. you can’t walk into a modeling agency and show fat. that’s just how it is. to say that models need to eat b/c there are starving children in uganda is completely irrelevant. its true that in the real world, being nothing but “skin and bones” is unnatural, but in the modeling industry, its beautiful. i don’t think that the modeling industry incourages anorexia, however, if models are willing to starve themselves, then so be it. people shouldn’t fall under pressure to be skinny like their idols. if they do, then they are to blame, not models.
hi, im 16 years old and a size 4-6 UK size which in America is classed as a size zero, im around 7 3/4 stone and roughly 5 ft 6. i eat healthy food and A LOT of it! i never go without food and i’m pretty much ALWAYS eating but i can never seem to gain any weight. I would love to be a model and think that as long as you’re happy and healthy there is nothing wrong with being a bit on the skinny side
I think that models look beautiful being skinny! However i dont think that people should blame anorexia on models anorexia is a psychological condition closely associated with low self-esteem, intense perfectionism, and a pressing need for control. I dont like the way i look but i do have a low self esteem!
hi, this might sound stupid but what is a size zero? i get that its a very small size but how do you measure it? im very skinny and i have allways been. i am from Denmark and here we would say that i was a size 34 sometimes 32. is that a size Zero?
The average model is a size 6. The standard in the modeling industry today is to discourage models from being unhealthy, and that includes models who are “too skinny.”
size zero has now become politcal corectness gone mad, it really rather annoying. Just because of the looming obesity in society doesnt mean the skinny girls are to be scrutinized. yes at the beginning it was wonderful, no more annorexia & insecurites, but now im insulted by fat people for being a size 6. Ridiculous obesity is so much more pressing, thousands of people die every year from it, & one skinny bitch from checaxlaidontspeakenglishland dies from heart faliure & the world is in uproar.
size zero / size four is it healthy pressure is on for younger teens im size ten but belive i need to gain weight not lose it.
I’m size 4, and i hate being critizized for being too skinny.
I get told to eat by strangers.
how rude. I mean you wouldn’t go up to an overweight person and tell them to lose weight so why tel skinny people to put on weight?
Yes, some people will be angry at what I’m saying, but I DO eat, I’m not anorexic, I’m just thin.
I’m considered skinny by many people, and I also get criticized sometimes. Some people tell me “you should eat more, you’re skinny as a stick!” I am NOT anorexic, and I do not have an eating disorder.
It’s just the way some people’s body’s are like. It’s not always that they have an eating disorder. But some models look skinny, in a very unhealthy way.
I hate that models HAVE to be a certain size and over 90% of them smoke or have smoked (source: antm). But it’s just the fashion industry 🙁
Some models deserve to die, they can’t care for themselves – they won’t eat right and they just do too much drugs.
yesh i agree to the comment above ^^!
i`m a size four nd i do a little modelin! i have perfect skin nd im naturally skinny yet i eat alot of chocolate nd junkfood cause i dont like vegtables!
people tell me i shouldnt let pressure get to me to diet nd eat extremly healthy but i dont!
I fink if a girl is strong enough they should become a model as they can handle the pressure those who cant should find a softer dream!
Size 0 is rong. Gives out the rong messages, but some people cant help being so tiny, But others choose to be like it, hmm its not right…
I THINK THAT SIZE 0 IS GREAT IF U WANT TO BE A CRETAIN SIZE SO LET IT BE AS LONG AS YOUR HEALTHY AND EATING RIGHT IM A SIZE 5 AND 7 AND I WOULD L0VE TO BE EVEN NEAR A SIZE 0
Friends even people I didn’t know very well would tell me I should gain, I finally gave in so they would stop harrassing me. I went from size 6 to a size 12 in a really short time and i’m quite uncomfortable now. (its way too much for my small frame)
Other people often have thier motives which are not always out of concern for your health. Its up to us to know our own bodies and listen to what’s right for ourselves.
I’m a 17 year old girl, and have been a size 14-16 for the last year or so..im happy.. my best friend is a size 4 and has been for about 4 years.. she is happy!
Everyone understands that eating disorders are a problem and say media is the main culprit, but shouldn’t we be taught about healthy eating and exercise more in school..
i left schooling just over a year ago.. i had two lessons of Physical Education a week – averaging about 1 hour a week.. and had 4 lessons of French – averaging a massive 3 hours and 20 minutes a week..how is that any way shape or form doing children any good?? would you be more bothered that your child had knowledge on how to look after their bodies and health..which they will use in the future or would you prefer for your child to be able to speak languages that will only get used when holidaying???
i have also noticed in the last couple of months my cousin 8 years of age is becoming obsessed about what she eats.. and weather she cant see her ribs when she breathes in..Her mum makes her eat a sustainable healthy diet.. but as her friends at school are all comparing how much they weigh..(since they got weighed in a sience lesson).. Is a BIG issue from my point of view.. they are 7 and 8 for god sake!!
This is NOT healthy…
Lily Cole and Keira Knightley are Naturally beautiful and naturally thin, but they are both known for their intelligence aswell as their amazing looks, as is Tyra Banks, She is Beautiful and is still so since she gained weight..!
I want to see more beautiful women idolised not because of the way they look, but because of their intelligence, confidence and acheivements..
But looking at it from a realistic point of view.. The world is dependent on Air Heads who just eat lettuce – simply because of the entertainment they produce for the media.. i hope that everyone soon learns that everything is not what it seems and..
Beauty isnt only skin deep..
And its not whats on the outside, but on the inside that matters..
xx thank you xx
I am 16 years old. I am 5 ft 3 inches tall or small and wear a size 14. I know i am overweight and am trying to lose weight through healthy eating and exercise. I think that it is completely wrong to tell thin people to eat more as i have six sisters who are all size 10 or under and each and every one of them eats like an animal. If you are destroying your body by not eating and over exercising you are wrong but if you are over eating and not exercising at all you are just as wrong. My point being don’t judge the situation until you know the full story. The truth is that all of these people including me need help overweight or underweight. We should aim to make everyone happy and healthy not size zero and not obese.
p.s.
Mia i don’t know you but ignore the idiots that tell you to eat because people are never happy. Whether you are a size 6 or 16 there will always be someone who has a problem with your size. I say their sad because their too busy looking at others they forget to look at themselves.
I WANNA BE SKINNY! i am a size 10 but i think size zero looks fab!!
im a size 0 but i eat but cause of all da size zero models and ppl i hu r skin and bones i still fink thts 2 fat and i used 2 fink tht i was fine b4. c how da fashion industry cn change da way u feel bwt urself???
I think it depends on the person. I know someone with a eating disoder and not only is it painful for the person it also has a effect on the people around them, it hurts to see someone turn into that.
But some girls are naturally skinny and i think people should just learn to live with that.
I’m 16 years old (nearly 17) and a size 6 with a very small frame. I have always been told i am very skinny and personally i hate it. Friends and people i have just met always comment that i have small legs and wrists. When i was younger i used to hate how small i was, and even now i wish i was bigger but i don’t put on weight. I eat a normal diet which is not particularly healthy or unhealthy.
In my opinion all the media coverege about size 0 and eating disorders shouldnt happen at all because it just draws more attention to it and on top of this it makes people who are naturally slim uncomfortable; as you feel people are judging you just because you are slim.
Plus i dont see how it isnt insulting when someone says “you’re so skinny” but it is inslting if someone says “you’rs so fat”; there is no difference between these comments as they can both hurt the people they are said to.
I think everyone comes in different shapes and sizes and there will always be people who take dieting to one extreme or the other. We should all just accept each other the way we are and try to be happy with ourselves.
I believe size 0 models are an outreach. Im a size zero, and would love to be a model. I’m only fourteen but people always compliment me on how beautiful I am. Im not to skinny; I look fine. If I was bigger I wouldnt look right. That’s just me though. All I can say is be happy with yourself, because some girl out there is probabaley dying to look just like you.
im 16 5 ft 5 an wear a size 14 i no im over weight but im trying to loose it i realy want to become a model plz help me
This is pathetic, This is a fashion debate. Yet now we have “pro” anorexics and bulimics MIA & ANA. That can be perceived as part of the dark side of fashion, I have a mild eating disorder, and i grew up with friends who had eating disorders since I knwere them. Lily Cole has bore the the front on the topic of size zero. However she appears a natural beauty with a D cup breast.
When you say” Some models deserve to die, they can’t care for themselves – they won’t eat right and they just do too much drugs. ” Its equally as SHIT, alot of people in the public eye struggle on a day to day basis, a large majority of the teen population drink and do drugs. Do a doctrates in psychology or live through it and you might be half way to understanding.
I am 15, 5ft 5in and a uk size 6 but i would liike to be a uk size 4 because i look better thinner, because i am not very tall and have quite a small frame. I dont know if uk size 4 is ‘size 0’, but if it is i dont see any problem with it because i look quite podgy being a size 6. But it depends on the person!
that richard person is right it is stupid who wants to be skinny anarexic ? well i deffenetly dont! fair enuf i would love to be a modell but if i would have to be anarexic then no fuck!ng chance.
we were all built how we aare supposed to be !
I honestly couldnt care less people who are saying oh these models deserve 2 die your to skinny ect. just honestly have a problem with the way they themselves look. People should be confident enough in themselves to not be swayed by the images of others and they should definately not be telling these models how they ought to look, who gives a fuck if they’re to skinny who gives a fuck if they’re to fat. In the terms of potential employers however of course i see how it mattrs they are paying you money to look a certain way and you should or you should find some one else to work for ( preferably not a jackass who tells you your to fat) ,but everyday people why do we get to dicatate how other women should look? it just doesnt make sense and it isnt any of our goddamn buissness ( i do realize only about a quarter of that made any sense)