France Banned Ultra-Skinny Models and the Fashion Industry Is Pissed

Late last Thursday, the French government passed a new law intended to ban excessively thin models from working in France, according to WWD.

In keeping with the law, models working in France will need to supply a doctor's certificate proving their overall health and showing that their body mass index is "appropriate for the job." Breaches of the law by models, their agencies, or the clients who hire them can result in six months in prison and a fine of up to 75,000 euros ($81,850.25 at the current exchange rate).

That's a stiff penalty considering how vague the law is in its current state. "Appropriate for the job" could mean just about anything depending on who you ask. No doubt Saint Laurent designer Hedi Slimane felt that Dutch model Kiki Willems's BMI was "appropriate" when he cast her in the brand's ad campaign earlier this year.

The U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority, however, disagreed and banned the ads in the U.K., saying that the lighting effects drew too much attention to the model's visible rib cage and her legs "where her thighs and knees appeared a similar width."

The new French law also states that any images where models have been digitally altered to appear either larger or smaller must be marked as a "retouched photograph." Failure to include the phrase will result in a fines ranging from about $40,000 to as much as 30 percent of the cost of the advertising budget.

The retouched photograph law is set to go into effect by Jan. 1, 2017, but for now, there is no such timeline in place for the implementation of the law regarding the BMIs of the models themselves. Before that can happen, France's National Assembly needs to vote on numerous updates to the country's public health code, after which they can hammer out the exact terms and conditions of the law, and how to enforce it.

The fact is, although laws like this have been popping up across the world in recent years, from the U.K. to Spain, Israel, Italy, etc., they have happened without the support of the fashion industry as a whole. And while many agents, designers, editors, and models acknowledge there is a problem with the impossible standard of thinness perpetuated by the fashion industry, none of them are willing to accept responsibility for it.

"The power is in the hands of designers, photographers, and editors," Isabelle Saint-Félix, general secretary of Synam, France's union of model agencies, said to WWD. Of course, agents could just refuse to work with models who do not meet a certain weight criteria, but then they might miss out on big jobs from clients who want what that agent doesn't have. That would mean less money. And when has a company ever been supportive of any action that might impact their profits?

Paris-based fashion stylist Simon Genskowski also passed the buck when speaking to WWD. "It would have been wise to reconsider current sample sizes," he said, as if making the clothes larger wouldn't just result in stylists pinning them to make them look fit smaller - already a common practice.

While agents and stylists point the finger at designers, designers are pointing it right back at them. "Modeling agencies need to have a license issued by a prefect, and models are employees of the agencies," said Sylvie Zawadzki, a delegate for legal, social, and tax affairs for the the Fédération Française de la Couture du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode, which is sort of like the French equivalent of the CFDA.

Given the prevailing mood of the fashion industry, it would appear that France is going to have a real fight on their hands when it comes to actually enforcing the new laws. Even if the government is able to set up clear guidelines, without rigorous inspections and diligent prosecution by the French authorities, you had better believe that designers, photographers, agents, and editors who want to promote ultra-thin models will find a way to make it happen. For instance, what's to stop a model, agent, or designer from slipping a unscrupulous doctor a little extra money under the table for a passing mark on a health form? People have done far worse for far less.

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