BMI restrictions? What is it again?

hiake · Oct 26, 2007

Toronto Fashion Week organizers refuse BMI restrictions

CBC News

Toronto Fashion Week organizers have chosen not to place weight restrictions on models walking the runway, saying the regulations would send an inappropriate message.

"Having doctors on site with calipers is going to give younger people [the idea], 'Oh I can be more in the spotlight if I am this messed up," said Robin Kay, the executive director for the Toronto show.

Organizers at Montreal's Fashion week in early October announced that models with a low body mass index — a calculation based on a person's weight to height ratio — or those who show signs of having an eating disorder would be pulled from the clothing trade show.

The United Nations suggests healthy adults should have a BMI of between 18.5 and 25.

Toronto-based designer Nada Shepherd said she when she chooses her models, she opts for those who look healthy. But she said some designers prefer rail-thin silhouettes.

"I know one designer — and I'm not going to say any names — who look for the really, really skinny sick girls and they like this really awkward walk," she said. "That's totally not what I like."

Shepherd said consumers have an important role to play in demanding change.

"If every single consumer said, 'I don't want to see clothes on clothes hangers walking at me' — then designers will stop," she said.

Fashion week organizers in Europe and North America continue to debate how best to deal with eating disorders in the industry. In Spain and Italy, models must have a BMI of at least 18.5 to be eligible to participate in fashion week shows.

In England, London Fashion Week officials banned models under the age of 16 from walking the catwalk this year. Organizers did not set a BMI standard for participants, saying the index was not necessarily the best indicator of good health.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/10/26/toronto-fashion.html
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I don't think it's effective to pose BMI restrictions on shows... It's all about supply and demand. When consumers still like to see (or don't protest upon seeing) rail thin girls, they will reign the runway indefinitely.

BMI restrictions? What is it again?

hiake Vardøgr of da E.Twin