Tracy
When I first heard this story, I found myself extremely interested and kept trying to think of ways to mix it up in order to write about it in here. Then it dawned on me. I don't need to find a way to make it relate to advertising, because it does that on it's on.
If you don't feel like reading the story, I'll up it up easily. Spain is banning skinny models from their runways, and England is considering doing the same in the near future. They've set weight minimums on all of their girls in order to nix the heroin-chic trend that has recently returned to the catwalks.
The runway is advertising in it's simplest form. These girls, and men as well, are walking ads for the high end fashion world - which is undoubtably one of the most influential and powerful entities in the world today. The whole world is watching them, seeing what's new, what's next, what they should be doing, wearing, how they should be walking and talking, who they should be seen with and who to avoid.
I think that for a country to ambush such a large mark in culture such as the fashion industry, the problem must be huge. In America, it seems like young Hollywood is more of a showpiece for our advertisers than the runway is, although in recent years there has been a much more promenant role in the runway bizz. And yes, even in young hollywood there is the 'Nicole Richie plague', where girls just don't eat, thinking that their Louis Vuitton dress looks better drooping from their frames, but these girls aren't wearing these clothes as ads, so to say. So I guess there isn't much we can do here.
In places though, where all eyes are on the lighted runway, and where that is where people are getting their ideas, I don't blame the authorities for stepping in and trying to solve this epidemic. So far, they've had to turn away 30% of their models for not meeting the weight requirements. While this number seems shockingly high, it gets worse. Sure, they've set these requirements and in retrospec that makes them look good, like the role-model country and such, but when you actually look at the number - 120pounds for a 5'9" model - it's even more shocking. That is still disgustingly thin, and the fact that 30% of the models were turned away already, means that they were under even THAT weight.
I guess this whole story just made me think about the incredible affects that advertising has on the culture. When bans have to be placed and people have to be out of jobs to make sure that there isn't an overwhelm of bulimia patients in the hospitals, you know you're looking at something powerful. The fact that I am working towards becoming a part of an industry that will be part-taking in the shaping of peoples lives, actually scares me sometimes, especially when I look at stories like this one.
I'd love to know what everyone thinks about this.
If you don't feel like reading the story, I'll up it up easily. Spain is banning skinny models from their runways, and England is considering doing the same in the near future. They've set weight minimums on all of their girls in order to nix the heroin-chic trend that has recently returned to the catwalks.
The runway is advertising in it's simplest form. These girls, and men as well, are walking ads for the high end fashion world - which is undoubtably one of the most influential and powerful entities in the world today. The whole world is watching them, seeing what's new, what's next, what they should be doing, wearing, how they should be walking and talking, who they should be seen with and who to avoid.
I think that for a country to ambush such a large mark in culture such as the fashion industry, the problem must be huge. In America, it seems like young Hollywood is more of a showpiece for our advertisers than the runway is, although in recent years there has been a much more promenant role in the runway bizz. And yes, even in young hollywood there is the 'Nicole Richie plague', where girls just don't eat, thinking that their Louis Vuitton dress looks better drooping from their frames, but these girls aren't wearing these clothes as ads, so to say. So I guess there isn't much we can do here.
In places though, where all eyes are on the lighted runway, and where that is where people are getting their ideas, I don't blame the authorities for stepping in and trying to solve this epidemic. So far, they've had to turn away 30% of their models for not meeting the weight requirements. While this number seems shockingly high, it gets worse. Sure, they've set these requirements and in retrospec that makes them look good, like the role-model country and such, but when you actually look at the number - 120pounds for a 5'9" model - it's even more shocking. That is still disgustingly thin, and the fact that 30% of the models were turned away already, means that they were under even THAT weight.
I guess this whole story just made me think about the incredible affects that advertising has on the culture. When bans have to be placed and people have to be out of jobs to make sure that there isn't an overwhelm of bulimia patients in the hospitals, you know you're looking at something powerful. The fact that I am working towards becoming a part of an industry that will be part-taking in the shaping of peoples lives, actually scares me sometimes, especially when I look at stories like this one.
I'd love to know what everyone thinks about this.
posted by Anonymous at 11:57 AM
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