Fashion giants ban ‘size zero’ models from catwalk shows

TWO top French fashion groups, which operate labels including Christian Dior to Gucci, are to ban super-skinny models from catwalks and advertising worldwide, following a string of scandals over anorexia and mistreatment.

LVMH – the luxury giant with the world’s largest market value – and Kering will no longer hire girls aged under 16 for shoots and events where they will be wearing adult clothes.

The companies, whose labels include Givenchy, Saint Laurent, Stella Mccartney and Louis Vuitton, unveiled the rules in a charter “to ensure the wellbeing of models” ahead of New York Fashion Week, which opens today.

It stipulates that they will ban their designers using size 32 models – a US size XXS or size zero, or UK size four. From now on, they will only use women who are size 34 (UK six) or over. Men must be at least size 44 (UK 34).

The text also bans serving alcohol to under-18s and stipulates a guardian or chaperone must be present at all times.

In May, a French law hit the statute books requiring models to present a doctor’s certificate proving they are healthy to work according to their BMI, age, gender and body shape. Fashion agencies that break the law face fines of up to €75,000 while their directors can be imprisoned for up to six months.

While the French law says the medical certificate can date back two years, the LVMH and Kering charter requires it to be no older than six months.

“Respecting the dignity of all women has always been both a personal commitment for me and a priority for Kering as a group,” Francois-henri Pinault, the company’s billionaire chairman, said in a statement. “We hope to inspire the entire industry, thus making a real difference in the working conditions of models industry-wide,” he added.

Fresh French legislation obliging magazines to label images that are altered to “make the silhouette narrower or bulkier” as “touched up” will come into force on October 1.

The charter follows a string of controversies, most recently in February’s Paris Fashion Week, when two leading casting directors were accused of making 150 women wait for hours in a stairway in the dark to audition for a show

‘We hope to make a real difference in the working conditions of models industry-wide’

by Balenciaga, a Kering label. James Scully, an American casting director, blasted his rivals as “serial abusers” who were “sadistic and cruel” to models. The industry has long been accused of promoting unattainable beauty ideals that are harmful to both models and those who emulate them.

Antoine Arnault, a board member of LVMH, said: “As the leader in the luxury sector, we believe it is our role to be at the forefront of this initiative. Many people didn’t even know that size 32 existed,” he added, explaining that designers were at fault for basing garments on such skinny models. “That’s finished now. The size will be 34 and up, which is already quite small.”

He added that LVMH would stop the common practice of hiring under-16s.

In 2015, Sofia Mechetner, then 14, modelled for Dior, while Karl Lagerfeld said in March that he thought girls of 15 were old enough to model.