LONDON - Top international fashion magazine, the British edition of Vogue, has announced it will refuse to work with models who “appear to have an eating disorder”.
The pact is part of The Health Initiative, an agreement between the editors of the magazine in 19 countries to encourage robust living.
The UK edition of Vogue has listed the issues they are aiming to address as part of the initiative.
“We will not knowingly work with models under the age of 16 or who appear to have an eating disorder,” it read. “We will work with models who, in our view, are healthy and help to promote a healthy body image.”
The editor of the British edition, Alexandra Shulman, has been vocal about her concerns regarding the use of anorexic models in the past.
She believes there are too many emaciated models walking the catwalks and blames fashion designers for pressuring young people to look a certain way.
"I think it's one of the real blinkered aspects of the fashion industry," she told guardian.co.uk. “... and I find it very frustrating and I don't know quite where it comes from, but I think if I had to absolutely nail it, [it's] probably the designers, because they're the ones who are cutting the clothes so small.”
Alexandra vented her irritation in a 2009 letter to major international fashion houses including Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, Prada and Versace. She wrote that their "minuscule" sample sizes were forcing fashion editors to use models with "jutting bones" and "no breasts or hips".
Vogue’s new pact has insisted it will “encourage designers to consider the consequences” of unrealistic clothing sizes.
“We will be vocal ambassadors for the message of healthy body image both within the magazine and outside,” it reads.