Recently, a major fashion brand, LVMH, banned hiring models that are size 0 or smaller. Who are these LVMH people you may ask? They own big companies like Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, and Gucci, as well as many other brands. The reason behind this model ban: positive body image. Models with size 0 bodies and below send messages that those sizes are normal and ideal. Young girls see those images and believe that their bodies should look like that, and if they don’t there is something wrong with them. This seems like a step forward in the modeling industry and how society views body image, but is it really?
While people may applaud the company for taking one step forward towards positive body image for all, is it possible that they’ve taken one step back for another group of people? The rising popularity for positive body images and loving yourself just how you are is incredible. Girls are being shown by the positive parts of social media how important it is to love your own body, which is absolutely amazing. I’m sure many people are thrilled that this new rule is coming into play, but we must ask who is it benefitting and who is it suppressing? The answer may be unclear.
While they’ve potentially created a better environment for body positivity for some, have they wrecked others? Size 0 is a size that is sold in stores. It’s not an imaginary size that has been made up by the fashion industry; people are actually that size. This new regulation is taking size 0 models off the runways to make others feel better about themselves, but is this fair? Is it fair to all the size 0 girls that just saw their body type banned from the modeling business? Is it fair to the models that potentially just lost their job? In my opinion, no, it is not. Banning a size is going to make little-to-no difference. A size 0 and a size 2 side by side are not going to look much different. Size 0 models aren’t the only ones that can be posed in unhealthy looking poses, like having their rib cages show.
Rather than banishing a body type, the industry should be promoting healthy ways to achieve healthy bodies. Rather than telling a group of people their body is no longer acceptable, have regulations based on BMIs and the overall healthiness of the model. No one deserves to be unemployed or told they’re not good enough because of the size of their body, big or small.