Models & Eating Disorders

In the fashion industry there are many expectations that are asked from the models we see on fashion week runways and on fashion magazine covers.  The spectators a.k.a us, we suspect that the models choose to look like they are malnourished and skinny enough to make a twelve year old girl feel uncomfortable with her own body.  The truth is these models are forced to conform to the standards of what their employers ask them to look like.
Models like Inga Radziejewski struggled in the fashion industry for being "too fat" she was at her skinniest, measuring in at 5 feet 11 inches, weighing 98 pounds and wearing a size double zero she still couldn't get a job because she was considered too big.  In an interview with UK's mirror newspaper she said "I was incredibly skinny but at fittings for designers like Christian Dior the clothes were so small that even though I was anorexic, I still struggled to get in them – despite my measurements being 27in chest, 21in waist and 27.5in hips".  Radziejewski is a fashion industry veteran and knows exactly how the fashion industry can be unforgiving when you do not meet their standards and measurements.  

Inga Radziejewski battling with anorexia(left) and at her healthy weight(right)

Radziejewski says that looking back at old photos of herself she sees how unhealthy she was, but at the time she felt she wasn't doing anything wrong, she also added that she is horrified with how she was living her life.  She gave up the catwalk and focused on her recovery to fight the disease she had been living with to keep her job according to celebrity health and fitness she is now a size 12 and still gets jobs for magazines and media and occasionally works for runways in Asia.  

Stories like this aren't uncommon in the fashion industries models like Ana Carolina Reston, Eliana Ramos, Hila Elmalich, Isabelle Caro, etc all died from anorexia or from complications because of anorexia. 

Isabelle Caro before she died due to her anorexia

Not only does the fashion industry make normal women view their bodies as if they aren't good enough, but the models we view in these magazines and runways have struggled with their body image just as much as any other person.  Their jobs depend on their weight and measurements not on the skills they have to offer, which is a horrible stigma to have little girls exposed to.  

Models like Coco Rocha have spoken up about issues like this and have tried to change the face of the industry in the last ten years, after being asked "to look anorexic, but not be anorexic" is Rocha decided to try and change the industry for the better.  Rocha has spoken up about this issue during interviews and other type of social media and has stated that things have to change for the better and one day they will.  She now says that she goes for jobs that want her and only her, she will not change for one designer or any other she goes for what she wants, because in a sea of no's there is one yes.  
Models have a tough time in the fashion industry just like women all over the world have a tough time viewing these models that have these bodies that are supposed to be the ideal body.  No matter what you look like your body will always be under scrutiny, whether you're a model or not it's up to you to accept it and to not let others get into your head and tell you otherwise. 

Model Coco Rocha refuses to give up with her support to stop eating disorders in the Fashion Industry