Montreal's
Fashion
Week
bans
models
too
thin
or
under
16
By
Ashley
Joseph,
The
McGill
Daily
(McGill
University)
MONTREAL
(CUP)
-
Montreal
Fashion
Week
is
putting
its
pointy-toed
foot
down,
hoping
to
curb
the
growing
presence
of
eating
disorders
in
the
fashion
industry.
Organizers
of
this
year's
event
have
refused
to
hire
models
under
the
age
of
16
and
any
model
deemed
too
thin.
According
to
Fashion
Week's
organizing
agency,
Sensation
Mode,
the
new
regulations
hope
to
promote
healthy
models.
Sensation
Mode
is
refusing
to
admit
models
whose
body
mass
index
(BMI)
is
under
18.
A
healthy
BMI
is
between
18.5
and
25,
according
to
United
Nations
standards.
Models
pulled
from
the
shows,
running
from
October
9
to
11,
will
be
directed
to
Montreal's
Douglas
Mental
Health
University
Institute,
where
staff
will
offer
them
help
with
nutrition
and
eating
disorders.
Representatives,
while
happy
with
the
restrictions,
said
that
further
work
must
be
done
in
developing
guidelines
to
ensure
the
health
of
models.
"We
will
be
there
to
collaborate
and
offer
the
expertise
we
have,
and
maybe
next
spring
Montreal
Fashion
Week
will
have
something
more
concrete,"
said
Marie-France
Coutu,
communications
adviser
at
the
Douglas
Hospital.
"It
is
a
work
in
progress,"
she
added.
Montreal's
decisions
are
part
of
a
global
trend
to
combat
weight
issues
among
models.
Controversy
that
swept
the
fashion
world
after
eating
disorders
caused
the
death
of
models
Luisel
Ramos
and
Ana
Carolina
Reston
last
year.
The
2006
Pasarela
Cibeles
show,
a
fashion
fair
in
Madrid,
then
became
the
?rst
to
ban
models
deemed
too
thin.
Pasarela
Cibeles
turned
away
30
per
cent
of
models
who
had
previously
participated.
In
Dec.
2007,
Milan
followed
suit,
banning
all
models
with
BMI
levels
under
18,
as
well
as
all
underage
models.
Some
involved
in
the
industry
found
the
restrictions
unfair.
New
York's
Elite
Model
Management
protested
the
decision,
citing
discrimination
against
naturally
thin
models
and
restriction
on
the
freedom
of
the
designer.
Yet
health
advocates
see
their
effect
reaching
beyond
the
limits
of
the
fashion
industry.
"Fourteen-year
old
girls
on
the
runways
give
a
biased
image
of
what
a
mature
woman
should
look
like,"
Coutu
said.
According
to
co-president
Chantal
Durivage,
Sensation
Mode
also
intends
to
address
partying
and
drug
abuse,
along
with
eating
disorders,
to
provide
concrete
support
to
models.
"We
are
intent
on
having
measures
that
foster
this
objective
in
place
by
2008,"
she
said
in
an
Oct.
1
press
release.
"The
health
of
our
young
people
is
important
to
us
and
we
wish
to
make
a
positive
contribution
to
the
challenges
of
public
health."
You
Are
Invited
Leadership:
The
Next
Generation
iv
C
In?uencing,
Developing,
Preparing
the
leaders
of
tomorrow
V
Public
Forum
(
f$
q-
College
of
New
Caledonia
rr-i
1
yv
j
1
r
rrrr-i
Tuesday,
October
23,
2007
7:00
f
?"
-9:00
pm
Rooml-308A&B
3
College
of
New
Caledonia
-
Ion
..'
.tiV...
i
J"
,.
t
jl
v-?
: