Topshop Pulls Image Of 'Size Zero' Codie Young, Model Responds (PHOTOS)

Topshop has taken a graphic off its website after being called out by the Daily Mail and various anti-eating disorder groups.

The Mail first spotted the "painfully thin size-zero model" Codie Young on the store's website last week, writing, "The pale young woman with a gaunt face is seen on the fashion stores homepage wearing tiny clothes that hang off her skeletal frame."

At the time, Helen Davies from the British anorexia charity Beat told the newspaper, "This is not the sort of thing we want to see in magazines and on the internet. It's a constant battle against eating disorders and Topshop is not helping matters. For girls who see these kind of images it can be very damaging."

Andrew Leahy, Topshop's head of publicity, since reached out to the Mail, explaining, "Topshop is confident that Codie is a healthy young woman and we do not feel it necessary to remove her from our imagery based on your feature. However we do recognise regretfully that the angle this image has been shot at may accentuate Codie's proportions making her head look bigger and neck longer in proportion to her body. [...] The clothes she is wearing are a sample size 10 so in some instances they may look a little looser than normal."

In any case, Leahy adds, "Topshop is proud of its heritage of celebrating individual-looking girls who offer an alternative more unusual beauty, however we take your comments very seriously," resulting in the removal of the photograph and its replacement with a different pic of the model from another angle.

18-year-old Codie took to her blog, remarking that she was hurt by all of the comments:

I am very happy with my body and how I look because its apart of who I am! Throughout my entire childhood I was called anorexic and people would ask if I was bulimic. And it was really hard sometimes for me to deal with as I have always been this way.

You know what some people are just naturally skinny and even if I tried to put on weight it wouldn't matter, because it doesn't matter what I eat, I dont put it on.

[...]

And finally yes okay I maybe an American size 0-2 and a UK size 8 so what. There are overweight/obese people who are a size 34 or 18 but know one says anything to them because you don't want to affend them! Just because someone eats a lot doesn't make them healthy. Just like not eating anything doesnt make you healthy.

She also recently recalled her most memorable backstage moment of fashion week to PureBlissFashion:

Chanel was really cool. They had the most amazing food ever ,and it was almost the end of Fashion Week. It was an early morning show so they had all this amazing breakfast food, like pancakes. Yes, there were pancakes at Chanel! And they had all these different juices, parfaits, and things. Since it was the end of Fashion Week, I was sick of eating sandwiches so I just remember walking backstage and thinking, "Thank God!"

The original image:

The replacement:

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk.

Comments

[Bruckley]

03:31 PM on 07/18/2011

I don't like "full figured" women but I have to admit that one's a bit too skinny even for me.

[coco51]

10:15 PM on 07/15/2011

Just what does pulled means? cuz unless I'm blind???? www.topshop.com

[seussianslip]

03:41 PM on 07/14/2011

Did anyone bother watching the video? The model asks, "as women in America...who do we have to look up to?" I'm also gathering that the chief complaint in this article is that young girls only have models of a particular body type to look up to and therefore wish to emulate? Call me crazy, but isn't the real problem the fact that little girls are looking up to models? Instead of griping about the fashion industry, why doesn't society stop glamorizing such a worthless occupation and instead, teach our youth to look up to doctors, scientists, teachers, etc. Hey, I know--let's do something really wild and put less value on 'beauty' and focus more on 'health' (which comes in diff. shapes, sizes, and colors!), 'intelligence', and 'compassion'...just a thought.

[Bruckley]

03:31 PM on 07/18/2011

It should be "... up to whom do we have to look?"

[Kathleen Shimp]

11:15 PM on 07/22/2011

You could have adequately made your point without calling modeling "worthless". And it's not an either/or, like you can't also admire a doctor if you admire a model, or can't admire both scientists and athletes, or whatever supposed "opposites" one decides to construct.
I admire people who are good at any of these fields, as I have since childhood.

[seussianslip]

06:25 PM on 07/23/2011

Of course you can admire a model! After all, every individual has some worth. That still doesn't make 'modeling' a worthwhile industry. I admire the effectiveness/persuasiveness and creativity of advertisers but I still think 'advertising' is worthless and and rarely (if ever) contributes anything positive to society. As someone who has modeled and knows plenty of models, trust me when I say that the world would by no means be a sadder place without the modeling industry. And what exactly is it that models are being good at in their field? Capitalizing on being really, really good looking? ;) I'm sorry but I just don't consider promoting consumerism, materialism, and superficiality to be worthwhile endeavors. If you asked a model (with a brain and some sense of humanity) how they contribute positively to society, I guarantee you that 'modeling' is not going to be part of their answer.

[vta]

08:30 PM on 07/13/2011

That chick needs to eat some pie.

[Bruckley]

03:32 PM on 07/18/2011

so to speak..

[Fetus]

05:50 PM on 07/13/2011

Being too weak to stand up and having to have a stage hand push you down the catwalk during a show is a little too 'prim'. Shame on you Topshop.

At Biosapartment I, my staff and I take too-thin models and former porn stars and have them confront their unhealthy body images and put weight back on to a healthy level using a specially-developed diet and laziness regimen. Contact me, Fetus, at [e-mail] for more information. Consultations are free at our gila Bend, Arizona facility.

[Burden of Truth]

05:44 PM on 07/13/2011

so many Girls are here stating that they feel bad for her because she said she eats and is not anorexic. Well every person that is anorexic more than likely are not going to come out and say it. And for the few people out there that are truly a size 0 and eat more than one salad a day you should be happy that you are thin without having to become anorexic or work at it like so many other do. I have known lots of people in my life and I have meet very few that were naturally a size 0 or 00. I have known many 2,4,6,8 and on up. But there are not that many people out there that are a size 0.
and I must say this just because of the comments THIS LITTLE GIRL LOOKS ANOREXIC. I did not say she was but that she looks it. and if I was a woman I would want to look at close on a woman not what looks like a 12 year old boy. I would want to see how the close looked on a woman that looked like me not like a little boy. And I am happy they pulled this sick and twisted picture.
.

[m320753]

11:32 PM on 07/16/2011

you hit the nail on the head. it's like asking an alcoholic if they drank today. you know they're gonna say no through the reeking breath and barely understandable NOOO

[boston33]

03:32 PM on 07/13/2011

Lets feed in to all the sexist bull shit and comment endlessly on this girls appearance! Looking attractive is all ladies are good for anyways!

We are not going to improve the way women feel about their bodies by reaching consensus about the most PC body type for a women in the media to be. We can only solve this problem by shifting the focus to who women are, and not what they look like. Saying she is way too thin, or its ok to be thin, or its ok to be fat, is only feeding into the problem.

Lets stop talking so much about the way women look. When you see a young woman, or any woman you know, think twice before mindlessly complimenting her clothing, or weight. Why not compliment her vocabulary, work ethic, or soccer skills instead.

[lpollak]

02:54 PM on 07/13/2011

It is so refreshing to read that I am not the only one judged for being thin. If someone asks you if you are anorexic or bulimic they are essentially stating you are sickly or unhealthy looking. I was frequently taunted for being thin when I was young and still feel judged at times at 37. If that model is indeed naturally very thin it is hurtful to criticize her. No-one should have to feel badly about their body, thin or not!

[wrockanrolla]

01:59 PM on 07/13/2011

I've been facing the same problem as this model; I'm a size zero, and everyone I know has tried to put me in counseling for bulimia and anorexia, because I either eat a lot, or sometimes I'm not hungry.
She's obviously naturally thin, and she can't do anything about it. Just because people are afraid that she'll influence other people to stop eating or forcibly vomit, doesn't mean she can control it. As she said, she can't put on weight no matter how hard she tries, so give this girl a break!

[dengal]

11:45 AM on 07/13/2011

someone get her a carbohydrate - stat!

[Burden of Truth]

05:44 PM on 07/13/2011

you called it

[editboy]

10:52 AM on 07/13/2011

Seriously, do real men find this biafran body type attractive? I think only the fashion press do

[BVictor1]

10:42 AM on 07/13/2011

Looks like a mannequin.

[alsm9]

10:37 AM on 07/13/2011

I'm a photographer studying fashion photog specifically. There seems to be a trend right now to use wide angle lenses (usually used for landscapes) for fashion editorials and commercial work. Depending on the composition etc. of the shot, a lens like that can distort the body. I'm guessing that's why in the top image her body looks smaller than her head. She's a thin girl, but some people are just thin naturally, but the first image has nothing to do with that and yes, she doesn't look good there.

[cpaigethomas]

10:04 AM on 07/13/2011

The first picture she does not look like a very attractive girl no matter what her weight. She is very very thin. And if that is natural body weight than so be it. The larger issue is that the magazines, modeling industry etc. show only super thin women. It is not was though there is a size 8 woman gracing the pages of magazines - unless they are doing a plus size issue, and let's be honest an 8 is not plus sized. There is an obesity problem in the US but the ideal woman is now ultra thin according to pop culture standards. Surely there is rooms for more body shapes than stick thin.

[mombabytiger]

08:21 AM on 07/13/2011

She looks like a 10-yo.

[SkiWitch]

09:25 AM on 07/13/2011

Well, she is only 18.