British fashion industry probes health issues for models

A model on the catwalk in 2005. [AFP]

　　Britain's fashion industry launched an inquiry Monday aimed at establishing health guidelines for supermodels in the wake of an international controversy over super-skinny "size-zero" models.

　　Guidelines for British employers of catwalk models will be drawn up in time for London Fashion Week (LFW) in September to help them tackle "any material size-related health concerns," an inquiry spokesman said.

　　In examining steps to ensure the good health of LFW models and how to implement, enforce and assess the measures, panelists will study the approaches of other fashion capitals like New York, Paris, Milan and Madrid, he said.

　　The independent Model Health Inquiry -- composed of model managers, designers and supermodels -- will make recommendations that will not be binding but are likely to prove influential.

　　"I will certainly be surprised if having asked us to do this they (the fashion industry) do not seek to implement our proposals," said Baroness Denise Kingsmill, who is chairing the probe.

　　"It is time, in a way, for the fashion industry to grow up," she said.

　　"It is a real and a very important industry and the people working within it have to be taken seriously and have to be treated well.

　　"It is a very important part of the global economy," she said. "It is an important chunk of our leisure, retail and tourism industries."

　　The British Fashion Council, an industry body which organises London Fashion Week, had written to designers before a week of shows in February, asking them to use only healthy-looking models over 16 years old.

　　However, it has stopped short of following the lead of authorities in Italy and Spain by imposing a ban on the skinniest models.

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