London Fashion Week won't ban size zero models

As London gears up for Fashion Week (14-19th September), The British Fashion Council  has confirmed it will not take a stand against size zero by requiring models to produce medical certificates to prove they are healthy.
 

Despite pressure following several high-profile deaths from anorexia last year (including that of 21-year-old Brazilian Ana Carolina Reston), plus the findings of a 2007 British health report which recommended making health certificates a requirement, the BFC has not budged on the issue of medically underweight models.   
 

BFC Chief Executive Hilary Riva said that the decision was made because a ban would be impractical. "This will only work if it's an international solution," she told The Times. "I would love for there to be a simpler solution. If we could just tick a box and move on it would make everyone's life easier but now this really is a long-term educational and behavioural campaign."

Just how do you get a model to prove she's not suffering from an eating disorder? Madrid Fashion Week made a stand last year by banning all models with a BMI under 18 from its podiums, yet Paris, Milan and New York are reluctant to do the same because they fear it will harm the industry: even slender supermodels such as Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell could be barred from the catwalk. 
 

The question remains whether it is more harmul to the fashion industry or to the young girls and women who take medically underweight models as role models to allow skinny frames on the catwalk. Some experts argue that BMI is not a reliable indicator of an individual's healthy weight, while certain models say argue that a ban would infringe their human rights.
 

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