The Fashion Industry & Its Sh*tty Standards
Being a model isn’t all free clothes and extravagant parties.
by MORGAN CALCARA ★ OCTOBER 26, 2020
TW: This piece discusses eating disorders.
Let’s be real—growing up, we ALL wanted to be supermodels at one point or another. I mean, who wouldn’t want free clothes, fame, fun parties, and getting paid just to have your picture taken?! It seems like an absolute dream. But let me tell you, it’s not as glamorous as it seems. Of course, high fashion designers such as Chanel, Prada, and Louis Vuitton have given us countless trends and endless inspo, but that does not excuse their doing so in a way that is inhumane and forces models to conform to unrealistic sizes.
Currently, the typical sample size for designers ranges from a size 0 to a size 4. However, most of the time, it is confined only to sizes 0 through 2. This size range was originally intended for designers to save money and use the least amount of fabric possible, but ultimately lead to setting a “one size fits all” clothing sample that was somehow expected to fit every model perfectly. In the high fashion world today, this is simply unnecessary and inhumane. As of 2020, the average American woman is between a size 16 and 18. Not only does this “one size fits all” sample size set a completely unrealistic body image as the ideal body for women and teenagers all over the world, but it forces models to conform to unrealistic sizes just to be able to find work.
Credit: Instagram (@shitmodelmanagement)
The standard measurements for models are 32” bust, 24” wasit, and 34” hips. With the height of models ranging from 5’9” to 6’0,” this is a very unhealthy and incredibly unrealistic goal; not to mention toxic. For individuals of this height, they would need to be around 110 pounds to fit the standard measurements and be able to work in the industry, which is unattainable for most women with a healthy lifestyle.
An anonymous Instagram account called “Shit Model Management” has been exposing the fashion industry for what it really is for years. The account gained notoriety for being a safe place where models can go and find relatable content about their everyday struggles in the industry. In addition to its relatable memes and a massive online community, Shit Model began to create other resources for models. Their most famous resource is an industry blacklist: a list full of photographers and agencies that have been deemed unsafe or fraudulent by handfuls of models. Basically, Shit Model Management is an account where models have the freedom to be 100 percent open and honest about what they experience without fear of backlash.
On Aug. 29, Shit Model Management released its biggest project yet. Bigger than the memes, bigger than the merch, and bigger than the blacklist. They released a petition to encourage designers to change the sizing standards of the fashion industry from 0-4 to at least 6-8. In the past two months, the petition garnered over 16,000 signatures. The petition has tagged almost all of the top designers that you could think of: Alexander Wang, Dior, Chanel, Givenchy, along with many others. There has not been any comment by any of the designers, however, it has gotten a lot of media attention from some of the top supermodels of our generation. For example, supermodel Emily Ratajkowski shared the petition to her 26.8 million Instagram followers.
The petition stemmed from a series of polls posted by the anonymous account to their 172,000 followers, majority of which are models. The polls asked questions about the modeling industry, eating disorders, and fashion sizing standards. In a poll of 4,481 people, it was discovered that 65% had experienced an eating disorder due to modeling expectations. This should not be surprising; models will quite literally be out of work if they do not shrink their bodies down to a size zero. The only way to get to this unrealistic size is through some kind of eating disorder. Models are expected and forced to restrict their diets, overexercise, and starve themselves just to be able to keep a job.
In addition, out of 4,019 people, 84% said they would be told they were too big to work at their body’s natural and healthy weight. Even at a healthy (yet thin) weight, models are constantly criticized about their bodies and their measurements. They are encouraged to obtain the body they had when they were teenagers; no curves, no hips, no body fat whatsoever. Like, we’re not TWELVE! Modeling agencies encourage their models to restrict themselves, which ultimately drives them to develop eating disorders so that they will book jobs and make the agency money. Romanticizing eating disorders and the bodies of young women is just another way the standards of the fashion industry are failing us.
Credit: Instagram (@shitmodelmanagement)
The life of a model is anything but glamorous. It is filled with constant scrutiny regarding body size. It is filled with measuring tapes and scales. It is filled with being told, “you look amazing!” when you are starving yourself. And it is “if you just lose a few more pounds, you’ll be perfect,” when you are at a healthy, natural weight. The fashion industry is a huge part of this society’s culture, but it is inhumane and needs to be changed.
Please sign Shit Model Management’s petition to help support models and change the fashion industry’s shitty standards!
Cover photo credit: Vogue.com (Zoë Ghertner)