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ROME - One of the world's premier fashion centres is to take the lead in driving size zero off the catwalk. The Italian Government and leading couture houses have joined forces in a move that will ban dangerously thin models from Milan's fashion week.
Milan stands alongside Paris and New York as one of the world's most important fashion events. Like the other two, it has, until now, resisted demands to stamp out the waif look. The minister and the industry said that by January they intended to produce a "common plan of action" to induce all players in the fashion business to sign up to a self-regulating programme that would force unhealthily thin models to plump up or get out. The Italian industry is also talking about body mass index (BMI)
The change is part of a growing movement around the world to deal with ultra-thin models and the influence they have on girls and young women. Madrid's fashion week has already banned models with a BMI below 18, after the death of Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos, and Brazil and Argentina have joined the campaign.
Italy initially refused to take action with Mario Boselli, the head of Italy's Camera Nazionale della Moda, which represents houses such as Prada, Versace and Armani, saying: "Our models have no need of regulation."
But after the death of a second model, Brazilian Ana Carolina Reston, last month, the chamber has had second thoughts. The 21-year-old, who was 1.7m tall, weighed just over 38kg at her death.
Until now, the fashion shows of Prada, Dolce & Gabbana and other Italian designers have been dominated by cadaverous waif models. So it was a major event when Italian Youth Minister Giovanna Melandri persuaded Boselli and his colleagues that Italy's models did need rules.
The January deadline has been imposed with the aim of getting new rules agreed in time for Milan's fashion week in February. "The Camera della Moda will take action against designers who do not respect the manifesto," he said. "They could be removed from the fashion calendar or, in the most serious cases, banned from the fashion week altogether."
As a ministerial aide said: "In the Third World, if someone has an index of less than 18.5, they send in humanitarian aid."
- INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
