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Size zero model is banned from London Fashion Week
By Amy Iggulden, Evening Standard Last updated at 11:50am on 10.09.07
Relieved: Charlotte Carter is a stone lighter than this but does not want current photos to be used
A top international model has been told she is too thin to appear at London Fashion Week.
Charlotte Carter, who is a US size zero, has been advised to gain weight if she wants to work.
Campaigners said it was the first sign of hope that the industry is changing after last year's major row over ultra-skinny models.
The Evening Standard has learnt that Miss Carter, 22, has been told to put on at least a stone slowly and warned to think about her health.
She has modelled for top fashion designers throughout Europe while a size zero, the equivalent of a British size four with a 32 inch bust and 22-inch waist.
But the agency Models 1 said she is too thin for London catwalks as they gear up for London Fashion Week, which starts on Saturday.
Miss Carter, originally from Zimbabwe and now living in Kensington, has battled with eating problems since she was a teenager.
But this is the first time she has been advised by a European agency to think about her weight.
She is speaking out because she feels agencies in London are paying more attention to underweight girls. She did not tell Models 1 about her previous eating problems.
She said: " From the inside it feels like London agencies are cracking down on this super-skinny idea and therefore the rest of the world is somehow listening.
"The industry has always put pressure on me to be thin, but I brought my own issues along too. I can't blame modelling, although it has not helped.
"But when Models 1 advised me to gain weight it was like a psychological wall coming down. It helped me finally to realise that I was too thin. I was impressed that an agency was actually addressing my wellbeing."
Ms Carter, who is 5ft 10in, is now more than a stone lighter than when the picture on the right was taken but has asked that current photos of her are not used.
Experts say that up to four in 10 models may have an eating disorder.
A spokeswoman for Beat, the eating disorders association, said: "It is fantastic that such a large agency is taking such a responsible attitude. This is a sign of hope."
A major report, the Model Health Inquiry, will be published this Friday. It will not follow Madrid and Milan in banning size zero models. But the panel is likely to issue guidelines and demand that models are checked for eating disorders. They have banned girls under 16 on the catwalk and are likely to call for medical certificates, better nutrition advice and a model union.
Protesters still want an outright ban on women with a body mass index of below 18. They say it would help prevent tragedies such as the deaths last year of three South American models.
London Assembly member Dee Doocey, a Lib Dem, said: "It is a toothless report that I fear will not help anyone." Alice Gibson, head of new faces at Models 1 , said the agency has always taken a responsible attitude. But the size zero row has changed things slightly, she said. "If someone is borderline too skinny we are going to think twice about it."
Jameela Jamil, who scouted Miss Carter, said it was not until she removed her jumper that she realised how skinny she was. She said: "Instead of encouraging her size, Models 1 assured her it did not enhance her beauty and they wanted her curvier and healthier. I was elated."
Supermodel Erin O'Connor, who sat on the inquiry panel, said in an interview: "I was shocked when a few other models and I were singled out for criticism. The public humiliation of seeing my health analysed by complete strangers ... was bearable. The questioning of my integrity was less so."
Reader views (10)
i think moduls are not right.. people need to put on weight.. people all want to be modulds but its not good to be one going from your size you are now to a size zero and being as thin a a rake..why>>???
i have done moduling but i didnt lose weight or put any on.. i wouldnt lose weight for no one not even if i earned loads of money and i was famouse i would perfer to be myself..
x
- yazmin, england kent
I think it is awful the way that women and young girls are completely slated because of their weight. I think that there is much more important things to worry about.
I think that she should gain weight until she feels comfortable with her own body and not listen to what other people say about what she looks like!
- Karen Robb, Scotland
I'm thrilled to learn that Model 1 has such standards. Charlotte's eating disorders are of grave concern to me and a danger to Charlotte. My thanks to Model 1 for effectively conveying to Charlotte the need to eat well and be healthy. It is important that the modelling industry sets and maintains such standards, as they have so much influence on the behaviour of today's youth. This is not about protecting the life of one model, but the well-being of the nation.
Thanks also to Bethany Durling who points out that being under-weight does not do Charlotte justice.
With sincere appreciation...
(Charlotte's Father)
- Nick Carter, Johannesburg, South Africa
I personally think, that this size zero issue is ridiculous, because people who are slightly chubby, like me, feel horrible compared to these unattractive models, they are too skinny. These unhealthy models must realise they are too thin, for the catwalk, and surely they don't feel great about themselves.
- Bethany Durling, Colchester
Shame she's really attractive, when she gets to a normal weight she will look amazing.
Some women obsess over other women's fashion, weight, looks etc it's that dynamic that needs to change.
- Jonathan, LA
If fashion designers can only design clothes that look good on seriously underweight women instead of 'real' size women, what does that say about their ability as designers? I want to buy clothes that will look good on me.
- Carol, Hereford, UK
I wonder if after you tell an obese person that they have an easting disorder, that they look at you with an insightful gaze by promptly thanking you for finally "addressing their wellbeing"?
- Paul Marshall, Crawley
She is not being discriminated, she is being saved from death. And tell me in which planet fat models have advantage over the skinny ones.
- Susana, USA
The story is encouraging, but the above comment is ludicrous. The fashion industry has done nothing BUT discriminate on the basis of size - for decades. It DOES ban models - models who have even the slightest trace of natural curves. The fashion industry HAS been discriminating for years - discriminating against healthy womanly figures, and discriminating to impose a starvation ideal. All of the models on the runways will still be skeletal - and that's what makes the above comment so absurd. There ARE no full-figured models to ban - because the fashion industry has prevented them from existing in the first place.
It's time for their institutionalized emaciation to end, and for the fashion industry to stop poisoning young girls' minds and giving them eating disorders.
- Cedric, Albany, NY
So basically this model is being discriminated because of her size? Are we going to also ban models that are too fat? More ridiculous PC nonsense.
- Brandon Thomas, London Uk
