The French government recently passed legislation which mandates a minimum BMI requirement for models. The BMI must be 18. Casting directors, designers, agencies and anyone else involved in the fashion industry who do not comply can face a charge of €75,000 (about $82,417 US) and six months in prison. While this will reduce the number of extremely thin models on runways and in print, a better solution should be about proportion.
BMI isn’t accurate. Some people just have very light bones, so they could be healthy at a BMI of 17. However, is this a good idea? BMI isn’t always the most accurate way of measuring health, which Sara Ziff, a former model and founder of Model Alliance noted in a ThinkProgress article. Instead, if one really wants to see models that are less “thin,” minimum measurements would be more accurate. If there was a minimum requirement of say, 27″ waists and 35″ hips, we would still see very thin women (especially since models are usually close to 6′ tall), but they would be nowhere as skinny as many of the models we see on the runways and in print today. In fact, they’d be closer in proportion to average-heighted and petite celebrities who have smaller proportions, something that many people – especially body image activists – seem to dismiss.
The question now is whether the legislation will be strictly enforced. The fashion industry may put up a fight as some designers might believe that it will hinder with their creativity. But would they rather make larger sample sizes or would they rather risk jail time? And would certain designers be unofficially exempt, because of their fame? What about designers showing in other countries, ones which do not yet have such legislation? Personally, I’d love to see some change. I feel that some models are just too skinny – smaller framed than even most celebrities. What’s the point? Sure, designers want slim, but can’t the models be similarly proportioned to average-heighted actresses and musicians? As a consumer, I don’t really see a difference between the runway and the red carpet, anyway.
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