Emaciation Proclamation: Ralph Lauren Makes A Super-Skinny Statement On The Runway, Too (PHOTOS)

Ralph Lauren has been taking major heat for for the freakish Photoshopping of size 4 model Filippa Hamilton, and reportedly then firing her for being too fat.

The company apologized for the ridiculous retouching, but on the catwalk, the designer very publicly displays his penchant for skin-and-bone bodies. To be sure, Ralph Lauren is not the only designer with a preference for super-skinny models, but change must start one runway at a time.

Here are some of the most shocking examples.

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Comments

[Anon333]

01:42 PM on 02/02/2010

My husband's theory: Women's fashion is largely produced by gay men. They use models who are attractive to the designers' personal view of beauty: young men. That means no curves, no breasts, nothing womanly. The models end up being women with beautiful, feminine faces and the body of a 18-year-old boy.

[April Kling]

02:35 PM on 12/16/2009

Seamstresses know the secret reason why they use scrawny models.

LESS CURVES mean LESS WORK.

Not having to make curved seams makes for simpler garment construction. It's laziness in the name of efficiency, which translates to mean that couture designers would rather have less talent than support the health and well-being of women.

[Kathleen Shimp]

07:12 PM on 11/22/2009

I think maybe half these women are too skinny. A couple others borderline.
I do not know why that one of Claudia Schiffer is included. The way she's holding her shoulders in and back will make the collarbone protrude more- she's probably doing this to minimize bounce, as she is clearly braless.

[GreatLabels]

11:30 PM on 10/22/2009

I hope nobody blames the models for looking the way they do. Sometimes some women are just that skinny. However, that being said, it is sickening how designers - such as Ralph Lauren - constant use the super-skinny model to represent beauty. An unrealistic take on beauty. I know this "super-skinny-model" issue isn't new but I hope this latest debate will continue to remind people that things need to change in the fashion industry!

http://twitter.com/GreatLabelsSM

[jukesgrrl]

07:54 PM on 10/22/2009

The solution is simple. Boycott Ralph Lauren.

[jesselee26]

02:15 AM on 10/22/2009

whatever, the designers do what the designers do. i realized a long time ago that i'm not a model, but a girl with curves. it doesn't mean i don't enjoy fashion... you can appreciate an eccentric aesthetic, take from it what you like and still be at peace with your booty.

[Konnie]

06:25 PM on 10/21/2009

what don't you get here?

models are living clothes hangers.

personally i think these creations should
be strutted down the runway on those same conveyor belts they use in
dry cleaning stores...........

[Lauren Cahn]

05:05 PM on 10/21/2009

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I no more have a problem with Ralph Lauren using pipe-cleaner-shaped women to model his clothing on the runway, than I have a problem with Victoria's Secret using models with large breasts to model theirs. I don't think Ralph Lauren is suggesting that emaciatedly skinny is what all women must emulate. Rather, his clothing makes a certain desired impact when modeled by women whose body resemble hangers with legs. The clothes are barely filled out, but just filled out enough to show them off.

This is the reality: clothing looks better on the catwalk when modeled by human hangers. I am in no way a human hanger, myself, and I in no way wish to be one. Is it a health hazard to models? Probably. But to everyday women? I don't think the catwalk dictates how women wish to see themselves.

Now, when it comes to RL's print ad, with the distorted-looking, freakishly-tiny-pelvised model, THAT is a problem because it goes out there in magazines to consumers, not just to magazine editors and celebrities. In that context, the capacity to influence is major and destructive.

Context is everything.

[Mihal Freinquel]

03:35 PM on 10/21/2009

Sorry but why are we acting like Ralph Lauren is the only one doing this? These models look like EVERY other runway model out there.

[walruswheedchick]

06:26 AM on 10/23/2009

Because he did it badly. At least some people actually hire real artist to do the photoshopping for them. This dude, probably hired a toddler kin.

[WonderfulLife]

08:41 AM on 10/21/2009

News Flash for Ralph Lauren: You're never too big to fail.
It's the mantra of this decade and you better take note. Consumers are getting sick and tired of designers turning their noses up at them if they are not a size 4 or less. It's time to take the money we have alloted for our clothes budgets and only spend it on designers that are willing to listen to what people really want. He should be ashamed of perpetrating an unattainable body image for the up and coming generation. If he wants to dress Barbie-maybe he should start making clothes for dolls instead of women.

[mskitty71]

07:46 PM on 10/20/2009

These are the times when I am glad that as a Black woman the ideal body includes lots of thighs and booty. Whereas these models have young women throwing up and starving themselves, our ideal has me trying to figure out how to eat rice and beans and get the thickness only in the right places. People would think I was dying of some disease if I were this skinny!

[chroma601]

09:10 AM on 10/21/2009

Speaking as a white guy, I wish our ladies subscribed to your ideal body type. And there are no wrong places to have some thickness; I'm a fool for muffin tops!

[jdrourke]

04:18 PM on 10/20/2009

Skinny model is not news! If a runway model weighed more than a dozen Big Macs, then that would be news!

http://jdrourke.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/sieg-heil-heidi-klum/

[SmoothMineral]

02:12 PM on 10/20/2009

They all look ridiculously attractive to me.
I don't get it, am I supposed to be outraged that these women have high metabolisms?
Not every thin person has an eating disorder.

[chroma601]

09:13 AM on 10/21/2009

Some of these girls look healthier than others, but they are all so skinny! Seriously, if you think this is attractive, Google some pictures of concentration camp survivors. That should get you going!

[Seaglass]

11:33 AM on 10/22/2009

High metabolisms...riiiiiight.

[walruswheedchick]

09:14 AM on 10/20/2009

Most of these women genetically have little to zero body fat. Those famished models you hear about probably forced themselves into the industry.

[zeezan]

01:20 PM on 10/20/2009

Where in the world did you get this (mis)information?

[walruswheedchick]

01:25 PM on 10/20/2009

Its not misinformation. It is true. There are some people who are predisposed to having very little to zero body fat. Its genetic. GO read some scientific journals instead of infotainment. Go to Science Direct, for example.

[atienne]

09:00 AM on 10/20/2009

While I understand some people defending very skinny people who aren't starving at all...I would say they are not the norm. I DO know 2 people that can eat, eat and eat and not gain a pound but most people who are this thin, have to go to great lengths to get there. I think most of us heard former models talk about soaking cotton balls with orange juice to fill their stomachs. That's just sick!

Doesn't everyone in Western Society wear clothes? I don't see anyone walking around naked...maybe that's just me so why isn't fashion for everyone? If the design is ugly, it's ugly...a starved looking waif surely isn't going to make it look better!

One poster said it's 'always' been that way...wrong. Have you forgotten the bombshells of the past? Raquel, Marilyn, Rita Hayworth...heck, even go back to the paintings showing that flesh was beautiful and curves were coveted.

Twiggy came along and things began to change but then the Heroine-Chic look came about. Why ANYONE thought that looking like a heroine addict was sexy, I'll never know! Times change so maybe curves will be coveted once more!

[chroma601]

09:15 AM on 10/21/2009

They are coveted now, but just by men who won't buy into the image of femininity they are selling.