Top fashion labels pledge to ban super skinny models

FASHION firms behind luxury labels such as Christian Dior, Gucci and Saint Laurent have pledged to ban ultra-skinny models from catwalk shows and ad campaigns.

The move by French companies LVMH and Kering, which own dozens of top brands, follows years of criticism that the industry has been promoting unhealthy lifestyles and eating disorders.

A new charter, which aims ‘to ensure the wellbeing of models’, will see designers banned from using size 32 models – equivalent to a UK size four or US size zero – as well as ending the practice of using girls under 16 to promote adult clothes.

It follows the introduction of a French law in May which required models to present a doctor’s certificate to prove that they are healthy.

A number of scandals over the treatment of models have rocked the fashion industry in recent months. In May, Danish model Ulrikke Hoyer claimed she was asked to ‘starve’ herself and drink only water for 24 hours to prepare for a Louis Vuitton show in Japan.

The brand, which is owned by LVMH, denied the claims. And earlier this year, former model Victoire Dauxerre published Size Zero: My Life As A Disappearing Model, which exposed how intense pressure to fit into tiny clothes led her to adopt a diet of three apples a day and laxatives. Antoine Arnault, of LVMH, said: ‘Many people didn’t even know size 32 existed. That’s finished now.

‘The size will be 34 and above, which is already quite small.’