At a time when social media has been thrusting filtered, unattainable standards of beauty into our faces and minds, every single media, the topic of body-positivity is more relevant than ever. 

It isn’t uncommon to find kids, especially little girls, as young as 12 and 13 going on diets to ‘lose weight’ and even those in their early 20s struggling to fit into a dress they saw on Instagram. While working out to get to your fittest best is always a good idea, it doesn’t have to include starving yourself just to attain size zero that’s both unhealthy and for a lot of women, unattainable! 

One of the biggest promoters of this unhealthy body image for years now has been the modeling industry. Showcasing the newest collections of international fashion brands, waif-thin models parade down the ramp show after show, year after year. It’s ironical because the clothes that the models are wearing are meant for regular women, most of whom aren’t anywhere close to that size. 

Larazon

But since models and actors are looked at as the epitome of beauty, women are willing to do whatever it takes to get to those body sizes, forsaking their own health and well-being in the bargain. What you have, as a result, is a society filled with people with eating disorders and an extremely troubling standard of beauty. 

However, thanks to all the conversation that’s picked up over the past few years, the fashion industry is opening its eyes to this glaring, almost-criminal trend. And after plus-size models such as Ashley Graham and Tess Holiday made their way into mainstream media, it’s the brands that are doing their bit too. 

As per a report in BBC, two of the largest luxury conglomerates in the world, LVMH and Kering that house most of the prominent fashion brands including Christian Dior, Loius Vuitton, Celine and Gucci, have decided to ban size-zero models from their shows. 

Ulrikke Hoyer

This announcement comes a few months after the French government decided to ban ultra-thin models from working in the country!

According to this directive, any model wishing to work with the brands has to be bigger than the French size 32 which equates to a US size 6 and UK size zero. 

As part of a press release issued by the company, Antoine Arnault, member of LVMH Board of Directors said:

I am deeply committed to ensuring that the working relationship between LVMH Group brands, agencies and models goes beyond simply complying with the legal requirements. The well-being of models is of great importance to us. As the leader in the luxury sector, we believe it is our role to be at the forefront of this initiative. We have the responsibility of building new standards for fashion and we hope to be followed by other players in our sector.
InStyle

This landmark decision certainly marks the advent of a more healthy body image representation from the fashion industry. And we’re hoping it’ll go a long way in changing the mainstream beauty ideals that the industry has long been propagating. 

More than thin, it is fit that’s beautiful. Fit at every size!