France’s government is gearing to endorse a bill banning exceedingly malnourished models from the catwalk and not only that, placing a fine on modelling agencies that hire them as well as indicting agents that sign them.
Spain, Italy and Israel are some of the countries which have enacted laws against too-thin models on catwalks or in advertising campaigns and now France which is seen as a world hub for style with a billion Euro fashion industry is about to take a cue.
According to the guardian, “The law would enforce regular weight checks and fines of up to 75,000 euros ($79,000) for any breaches, with up to six months in jail for staff involved, Socialist lawmaker Olivier Veran, who wrote the amendments, told Le Parisien.
Models would have to present a medical certificate showing a Body Mass Index (BMI) of at least 18, about 55 kg (121 lb) for a height of 1.75m (5.7 ft), before being hired for a job and for a few weeks afterwards, he said.
The bill’s amendments also propose penalties for anything made public that could be seen as encouraging extreme thinness, notably pro-anorexia websites that glorify unhealthy lifestyles.”
Isabelle Caro, an anorexic 28-year-old former French fashion model, died in 2007 after posing for a photographic campaign to raise awareness about the illness.
“It’s important for fashion models to say that they need to eat well and take care of their health, especially for young women who look to the models as an aesthetic ideal,” Health Minister Marisol Touraine told BFM TV on Monday.
Anorexia, has become a large scale problem which has been to affect thousands of French Teenagers who look up to the body sizes of models on runway as validation for beauty and appearance. And this law is seen by many as a step towards ensuring a healthier lifestyle in the modeling industry hence reducing the advent of eating disorders like Anorexia and Bulimia which is so prevalent among young women.
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