Opening the windows and bringing in a breath of fresh air, blowing the cobwebs off the skinny archetypes that dominate the fashion world, brands such as Peter Alexander, Dotti, Supre, Dom Bagnato and Milk and Honey held callouts for real men and women to audition for lunchtime parades to be held at Federation Square during Spring Fashion Week. Applicants had to submit online with the only requirements being that you had to be over the age of 16 and submit a head and full body shot. From there, the number was brought down to 200 who were called in for a walk on the runway. But the organisers are not sure how many people they will eventually need. “We’re not really sure how many we’ll use or how,” event manager Jacelyn Hawkins told The Age earlier this week, “we just knew we wanted to showcase a range of body shapes and sizes because a lot of the labels I work with really have quite a broad appeal and wanted to reflect that on the catwalk.”
This follows a slow, but consistent swing by the fashion industry. In 2006, Madrid Fashion Week made headlines around the world when they refused to hire underweight models, instead opting to hire girls on their body mass index (BMI) compared to their height and weight. The recent fashion shows in Paris showcased curvier models, with Louis Vuitton’s latest line reminiscent of the 1950s when being voluptuous was seen as attractive. More and more plus size modelling agencies are being created and their books and the models in them, are being flown all over the world. With the average Australian woman being a size 14 and 16, the fashion shows and magazine ads aren’t realistic.
Youth Minister Kate Ellis, along with a body image committee, has introduced a new code of conduct for the fashion industry, including magazines, to follow. “Body image is an issue that we must take seriously because it is affecting the health and happiness of sections of our community.” Ms Ellis said. The code of conduct includes that a range of women must be shown in parades and magazines varying in size, age and ethnicity and that magazines either stop using digitally enhanced photos, are notify the reader when a photo has been altered. This is all done in the hope that the unrealistic portrayals of women will be eliminated.
The lunchtime parades at Federation Square are baby steps, but steps all the same. The fashion industry is realising that the majority of people aren’t a size 0 and are sick and tired of being told that to wear couture clothes, you have to be a lollypop. While some designers will never change, some are and slowly and surely, we’ll see more and more “real” models.
What do you think? Is this a step forward? Will this make a difference at all?
Love it! Spain banned size 0 models years ago. About time we followed suit. They should also make it illegal to airbrush magazines - or at least to have some kind of disclaimer on airbrushed photos so we know when we are looking at images that are false and misleading and unrealistic!
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