Comm 101

Every year, the first week of September indicates the commencement of a new season. This week, all eyes are set on the Big Apple as designer brands from all over sweep the runway with lavish clothing for one of the world’s most prestigious events – New York Fashion Week. In the past, Fashion Week has often caused an uproar among the general public as critics speculate about the usage of size zero models. Many believe that such models, who often suffer from anorexia, promote an unethical message to it’s audience, primarily to young women.

In recent years, Katie Green, a former English model, created “Say No to Size Zero”, which campaigns against unhealthy models with a BMI of 18.5 or lower. Though several renown people, such as Victoria Beckham and Giorgio Armani, support Green’s campaign, not much action has been otherwise taken to promote healthy modelling. However, this year’s Fashion Week proved to differ immensely from preceding years, as we saw the introduction of plus-size models. With the introduction of plus-size models, we should see a gradual downfall in controversies and stereotypes revolving around modelling and the ethicality of it, as the public and fashion houses can come to equilibrium. Like many problems though, there is no quick fix for such an ongoing issue. Now the fashion industry is faced with yet another problem..should they ban models who are naturally size zeros?