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SALT LAKE CITY — Less than a month after designers were pressured at New York Fashion Week not to use models under the age of 16, some are being criticized for continuing to employ models in their early teens despite the potential ramifications of the lifestyle for both the models and the teen girls who emulate them.
In the five years since the Council of Fashion Designers of America started a health initiative to protect the health and well-being of young models, strides have been made in improving the prevailing image of what is "healthy." But challenges remain, some designers continue to use models as young as 14, including agency Ford Models and designer Marc Jacobs.
Ford said in a statement that the agency had never agreed to stop the use of models under the age of 16, despite being named by the CFDA as having pledged to "not send out models under the age of 16 for shows."
"We take the age and maturity of our models very seriously," the company said in a February statement. "We work on a case-by-case basis alongside a prospective model's parents to make a determination as to whether they are ready to walk the runway."
Jacobs, who sits on the CFDA's board of directors, also chose to continue to employee underage models. The designer has stated he will continue to employ the models as long as there are parents willing to allow it — noting to The New York Times that there are child actors.
A 2011 study by the University of Denver found that teen girls who compared themselves to the images were more likely to suffer from decreased body satisfaction and eating disorders.
The difference, though, is in the industry: child actors receive protection from their union and directors have to comply with regulations on everything from work hours to schooling.
These are regulations the CFDA hopes would be put into place in the modeling industry, as well, protecting the youngest of models from being overworked and underpaid. But working within the constraints of the current regulation is strictly voluntary, although designers and agencies are strongly encouraged by the CFDA to comply.
"This season we must continue to celebrate diversity and embrace the message that Health is Beauty," Diane von Furstenberg and Steven Kolb of the CFDA said in a statement. "It is important that we share these values with the world."
These are values the council is pushing to make standard across the industry to avoid the potential health ramifications for young girls who are at a pivotal stage of development both physically and emotionally — a stage that could be marred by the development of an eating disorder or problems with self-esteem.
"That is particularly worrisome in an industry that is not only known for extreme thinness — in fact, it's practically required — putting its models at dramatically increased risk of developing an illness that has the highest mortality rate of any other mental illness," Lynn Grefe, CEO of the National Eating Disorders Association, said in a statement. "Minors deserve protection."
Minors deserve protection.
–Lynn Grefe
And accordance with the guidelines could serve to protect young girls outside of the industry. Women have long been found to compare themselves with media images of the perfect body — and young girls are no different. But a 2011 study by the University of Denver found that teen girls who compared themselves to the images were more likely to suffer from decreased body satisfaction and eating disorders — exactly what the CFDA is trying to prevent within the modeling industry itself.
The push for health within the modeling industry comes as girls' body images have recently become a matter of national discussion. A recent trend has found teens posting videos of themselves on YouTube, confessing their low self-esteem and asking, "Am I pretty?"
Often, the responses have served only to further harm the girls' self-esteem, and have left health experts and school administrators alarmed and calling for more attention to be paid to the often fragile state of teen girls' body images.
And change can start from the top, Furstenberg said.
"We do impact the lives of women and we can set a strong example of a well balanced life on our runways."
