Ralph Lauren Model: I Was Fired For Being Too Fat

By now you've surely heard about the Ralph Lauren photoshopping debacle. In a nutshell: Model Filippa Hamilton was digitally whittled and twisted into a comically carnivalesque Laffy Taffy of a human being. Website BoingBoing wrote about it in their Photoshop Disasters section, where writer Xeni Jardin now-famously mocked, "Dude, her head's bigger than her pelvis." Ralph Lauren got its knickers in a bunch and had their lawyers send a take-down notice to BoingBoing, saying it was an "infringing image." The problem: BB is totally within its rights to post the ad -- it's called fair use. I mean, if I got sued every time I commented or snarked about an airbrushed image I saw, I'd be in a jailhouse slammer in rural Alabama.

Polo Ralph Lauren then tucked tail and admitted

For over 42 years we have built a brand based on quality and integrity. After further investigation, we have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman's body. We have addressed the problem and going forward will take every precaution to ensure that the caliber of our artwork represents our brand appropriately.

But today we're learning that Hamilton was actually fired months ago for being too heavy. This morning, I appeared on the Today Show (view segment here) where we broke the story. Hamilton, 23, spoke with the Today Show and the New York Daily News exclusively, saying, "They fired me because they said I was overweight and I couldn't fit in their clothes anymore."

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Filippa Hamilton stands nearly six feet tall and weighs about 115 pounds.

In the Today segment, she appeared calm but obviously hurt, calling RL her "second family" (she has worked for them since she was 15). According to Geoffrey Menin, Hamilton's lawyer, the drastically altered image, in which the model's head is significantly larger than her waist or pelvis, is a "gross distortion of how she really looks and which we fear will be extremely damaging to her," not to mention the average woman at home reading a magazine and happening upon the pic.

Ralph Lauren has issued a statement in which that state they were forced to terminate Hamilton's contract because she no longer was able to fulfill her obligations, which include fitting into sample size clothing. I'm all for employees fulfilling their job obligations but those obligations have to be physically possible and not to the detriment of the worker's physical and mental health. I'm a writer, and if an editor hires me to write a story and turn it in on deadline, then I need to do that. But if an editor says, "I need you to type at 398 words per minute with zero mistakes," well, that just ain't gonna happen, no matter how speedy and talented I may be. Filippa Hamilton wears a size four, so I'm wondering just how microscopic RL's sample sizes are.

Here's my problem: Did anyone ever actually look at this image and think, for even one millisecond, that it was real? The poor model's body was manipulated to such an irrational extent that it ceases to look human any more. It's like someone holding up a picture of Oh No! Mr. Bill and saying, "No one has lips that full and luscious! He's obviously had Juvederm!" Um, no, it's a cartoon man, made of Playdoh. Same with this RL model. So much attention is being paid to this uber-obvious example, when there are a gazillion other equally egregious (but simply not as apparent) airbrushed women floating through our daily media. It's pictures like this and this, where the "after" picture has been radically altered but in very subtle ways. These are the images that catch people's eyes without them knowing it. These are the pictures that worm their way into our subconscious and make us feel like something is missing -- bigger boobs, fuller hair, fewer wrinkles. That Ralph Lauren pic was so out-of-whack, it was laughable. The other images that make us all feel like garbage are just sad.

Dangerously poor editing aside, though, ads like the Ralph Lauren model represent the one step forward, two steps back cycle we seem to be caught in when it comes to body image: Just when something positive happens, like the proposed French law that any airbrushed image come with a warning sign, we get knocked down a few rungs on the ladder with the news that a 5'11", 115-lb model was terminated for being too fat.

This certainly isn't the first time a model has been fired for being overweight. In May of last year, I was interviewed on Today about runway model Ali Michael who was all but banned from the Paris Fashion Week runways for her "fat" legs, after she gained five pounds during recovery from an eating disorder. More recently, model Paulina Porizkova alleged she was fired from America's Next Top Model for being too heavy, and there was speculation that Saturday Night Live actress Casey Wilson got the axe for the same reason.

 

 

Comments

[Katie Young]

We moan, the models moan, young girls hate their bodies in greater numbers than any other time in history. Yet, you know what? We continue to buy the clothes produced by these designers, who I might add are rarely ever thin or attractive themselves. We buy their clothes because it makes us feel good to have designer labels at the backs of our necks. Our own little private secret of superiority over the masses. Stop buying their flipping clothes, let them know how we all feel, and I can bet good money on the fact that they would see things our way in very short order. Designers remind me of stage moms, and quite frankly, I have very little use for them....

[kcnativnla]

Wah! I'm sorry, I don't feel sorry for this woman. You're in a superficial business, where your JOB is to be a size 0. If you want to eat like the rest of us and be a size 4, then get another line of work. Being abnormally skinny was your JOB, and you weren't performing. Fired. Life isn't fair.

[redlinemetro]

No sorry. You women fall over yourselves to defend anything that will malign itself to attack an industry (read it - an industry) that is the only honest and unapologetic voice that panders to women. The fashion industry has always catered to the small size. It says what it is and does what it says. That's no secret. If you don't like it, don't support high fashion, Don't buy the magazines, don't support the advertisers. You cannot get uppity in your designer shoes. It doesn't work both ways.

This model had no issues when she was under contract and was being air brushed to look more youthful and flawless to her advantage and promote her features. She was with this organization since she was 15. She is no stranger to the goings on and trappings of what was being done. She signed contracts and had no problems taking money and working year after year. It's only after she was fired that she has an issue.

And only after stories like these are recycled in the media that women who are shy of their goal weight come become outraged that this is allowed to happen when consumers are just as much to blame. Every woman on this board who is appalled owns something in their closet with a designer label on it. You support that industry that disgusts you. You are being hypocritical.

[ginny1920]

I have to agree. But, this woman was 15 when she started modeling. Who in hell makes good decisions at age 15? I sure didn't! Maybe at 23, after being fired, she is learning the hard way. Don't be too hard on such a young woman.
But yes, women need to put their money where their mouth is. Stop buying the crap that is put out by these labels! Jeez!
Also, one last point. Despite what many women who are "normal" weight (and above) want to believe, there ARE women out there who are naturally thin, and they are often treated pretty bad. There isn't even any stigma about it. It's okay to rip on skinny women! Well guess what? It's no better to be mean to them than it is to be mean to large people. And yes, I know this from experience! Someone posted above that the only thin girls she knows are all anorexic. Bull. I wasn't even close to anorexic in high school, but it made the women teachers and my classmates feel better to think I was, because then it was okay for them to make remarks to me about my weight, because, you know, it was my own fault. Whatever.
There are women of all shapes and sizes. We need to stop being so mean to each other.

[redlinemetro]

As I agree with many of your points Ginny. At 15 who does make sound decision, especially when it comes to business. Which is why children are under legal obligation to have their parent or legal guardian sign any contractual agreements with them until they are of legal age. This is as much her parents responsibility to look after the physical and mental well being of their daughter but it's another story altogether. The transformation a girls body goes through from 15 to 18 -when she became legal and responsible for her own action- gave her the time and indication as to what the business required of her and what would be in store. She continued to choose the option she did. Clearly it was lucrative. I found her interview on the Today show by Ann Curry, a woman who if I dare say was a size 4 would probably be insulted, a waste of dedicated air time. To flash a picture of what she looks like now standing inside of a candy store was insulting to the actual point she was trying to make and sent a mix message. 'Hi, I'm not fat and I'm promoting junk food. WTF? What bothers me is that if it's not this model today it will be some actress tomorrow or an athlete next month or singer next year. Someone crying foul and pointing fingers after signing on the dotted line and cashing years of checks. The responsibility lies within.

[LiberalDem]

The sickness is, I think, endemic to the fashion industry as it currently exists. Its preference for young women who appear to be little more than human coat hangers is truly disturbing. I don't understand why the industry continues to use sample sizes that are so unrealistic.

[XCITIZEN]

Maybe the published the image as a malicious way of making fun of the model they had fired for being 'too fat.'

[sallythewerewolf]

I think you may be right. The fashion industry IS that sadistic. Excellent point! Fanned.

[Milinda]

Good grief, how much thinner should she be??? I honestly don't get this. Women aren't beautiful unless they look as if they are skeletons?

[qtpi410]

What is a "normal size"? Some say between 12 to 14. I used to be a size 10 in my younger days but with age I am now a 12, and I have a nice figure. Who wears a size 2? I bet the normal working or stay at home Mom don't wear a size 2.
Most of us can't afford the RL clothing or any other high fashion lines.

[Sloane7]

So...5'10" 120 lbs is fat. Hmm. Perhaps we could just put the clothes on automated wire hangers so they look thin enough.

The picture looks like a Tim Burton movie. Her head looks like a monster climbing out of the body of the person it just inhabited.

[llisa]

Super thin is not healthy. The only stick thin young women I have known (as a teacher) were anorexic--very sick girls. One is a friend of my daughter and has been hospitalized several times.

I'm not sure why clothing companies want to promote this unreasonable image of young women. I appreciate those companies (clothing, hair styles, personal products) who use real-looking women in their ads (women who are larger or older or do not look airbrushed). I love the Dove commercials. People can see themselves in those types of ads, and I, for one, am more likely to buy products that relate to me--a real woman.

[kathy001]

I've known about digital enhancement for quite some time and it galls me. Legs are lengthened, waists are whittled, wrinkles and lines are wiped out, etc., etc. This isn't just an issue of women's self-image, it's an issue of the entire world thinking that women are supposed to look like these cartoon creations.

Men have ridiculous ideas of what a well cared for woman should look like so it's no wonder that they look for younger and younger women. Forget that that 40 year old woman actually has some life experience, she must not be very smart because she looks so old. Smart women take better care of themselves.

Woman feel as though they have to spend more on their appearance than they do on their mortgage just to complete - not just on a social level but on a profession level as well. Those men going for the younger women do lots of the hiring and firing in this world.

This is not a superficial issue. It's not just about appearances, it's about perceptions and expectations. And this kind of gross misrepresentation is altering the perceptions and expectations of our society.

[stevefromkelso]

Don't even start with that "men have ideas about what a woman should look like" crap. This is woman on woman crime. I don't know ANY man that wants a size zero gal.

[XCITIZEN]

And the point goes to stevefromkelso....

[mel2000]

It's worth noting that the women modeling for men's erotica are more curvy than skinny.

[kathy001]

Actually, my rant (sorry, I got carried away) was not especially about the weight thing - it was more about the totality of the airbrushing - the perfect shapes, no wrinkles, etc. And I stand by my comment about digital enhancement influencing men's expectations as well as women's. I am around lots of men all day, every day. I work with them and I socialize with them. I hear them talk - alot. I hear the discussions and the decisions they make on hiring and on choosing people to do business with and to socialize with. While I realize that these particular men don't speak for all men, they are certainly not the only men in the world that think like this.

However, I did not mean to sound like women are only trying to live up to these false expectation because of men. Sorry about that. Women compete with other women - that's just a fact and I certainly didn't mean to ignore that point.

[Elisheva Avital]

You have a factual mistake- Paulina Porizkova was not fired from ANTM for any weight related reason. She said "They had to trim the fat, and the fat was me."
In other words, either they cut her for budgetary reasons, or (based on what she seems to believe) there was only room for one supermodel on that panel, and that would obviously be Tyra.

[Irene Rubaum-Keller - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi Leslie, Thank you for this great blog. I am glad this is out in the open and on Ralph's 70th birthday no less. I wrote this article http://www.eatingdisordertherapist.com/feeling_fat.htm for Strive magazine about why normal weighted women feel fat. Today we have a screaming example of what you and I have been talking about, writing about and fighting against for some time. Keep up the great work!