Anorexic model of Brazil dies
November 17th 2006.

SAO PAULO, Brazil - A 21-year-old anorexic model who weighed only 88 pounds has died of generalized infection, a hospital said. Ana Carolina Reston, who had worked in China, Turkey, Mexico and Japan for several modeling agencies, died Tuesday, according to Sao Paulo's Servidor Publico Hospital.

The hospital said the infection that killed the 5-foot-8-inch model was caused by anorexia nervosa, a disorder characterized by an abnormal fear of becoming obese, an aversion to food and severe weight loss.

"Take care for your children because their loss is irreparable," Reston's mother, Miriam, told the O Globo newspaper. "Nothing can make the pain go away. No money in the world is worth the life of your child."

Reston began her modeling career at the age of 13 after winning a local beauty contest in her hometown of Jundiai, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo.

"I noticed something was wrong when she returned from Japan," Miriam told the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper. "She was too thin when she returned and when I told her to eat something, she would say: 'Mom please don't fight with me; there is nothing wrong with me, I'm fine.'"

The model's cousin, Dani Grimaldi, told the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper that Reston also battled bulimia, an eating disorder marked by binge eating that is followed by vomiting or the use of laxatives.

The world of high fashion and modeling has long been targeted by critics who say it encourages women and girls to emulate rail-thin models.

In September, a Spanish fashion show responded to such criticism by banning models with a body mass index of less than 18. Body mass index is a calculation doctors normally apply to study obesity, and anyone with an index below 18.5 is considered underweight.

Reston would have had a body mass index of 13.4 at the time of her death, according to a calculator on the Web site of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Reston began her modeling career at the age of 13 after winning a local beauty contest in her hometown of Jundiai, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo.

"I noticed something was wrong when she returned from Japan," Miriam told the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper. "She was too thin when she returned and when I told her to eat something, she would say: 'Mom please don't fight with me; there is nothing wrong with me, I'm fine.'"

The model's cousin, Dani Grimaldi, told the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper that Reston also battled bulimia, an eating disorder marked by binge eating that is followed by vomiting or the use of laxatives.

The world of high fashion and modeling has long been targeted by critics who say it encourages women and girls to emulate rail-thin models.

In September, a Spanish fashion show responded to such criticism by banning models with a body mass index of less than 18. Body mass index is a calculation doctors normally apply to study obesity, and anyone with an index below 18.5 is considered underweight.

Reston would have had a body mass index of 13.4 at the time of her death, according to a calculator on the Web site of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Skinny-model ban not desirable: U.K. fashion
Jill Lawless - January 25th 2007.

LONDON – Organizers of London Fashion Week said Thursday they would not ban ultra-thin models from the catwalk, but stressed they had asked designers to use only "healthy" people in their shows.

The British Fashion Council said barring stick-thin models – as fashion weeks in Madrid and Milan have done – "is neither desirable nor enforceable.''

The council, a consortium of major fashion retailers and publishers that oversees London's twice-yearly fashion weeks, said it recognized its responsibility to help promote a healthy body image.

"We have asked designers, model agencies and image makers to respect this responsibility and to use only healthy models for their collections. Additionally, we recommend that only models aged 16 or over are used," the council said in a statement.

"We believe that regulation is neither desirable nor enforceable. What will make a difference is the commitment of the fashion industry to change attitudes through behavior and education.''

The council said it was setting up a task force to create new guidelines for the fashion industry.

The debate over waif-like models has intensified in the past year as many models and celebrities appear increasingly thin.

In September, Madrid's Fashion Week, the Pasarela Cibeles, announced it was banning models with a Body Mass Index, or height-to-weight ratio, below 18. A 5-foot-9 model weighing 125 pounds would have a BMI of 18. Milan's fashion week also tightened its restrictions on underweight models.

The issue was back in the headlines in November, when 21-year-old Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston died of causes linked to the eating disorder anorexia nervosa.

A British Cabinet minister who previously called for ultra-thin models to be banned backed the fashion council's call for self-regulation.

"I urge strongly the designers taking part to support this,'' said Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell.

"Too many teenage girls try to starve themselves into unhealthy thinness, at great risk to their health," she said. "The fashion industry is hugely powerful in shaping the attitudes of young women and their feelings about themselves. Teenage girls aspire to look like their role models. If their role models are healthy, it will help inspire girls to be the same.''

Designers including Betty Jackson, Nicole Farhi and Julien Macdonald are due to showcase their autumn/winter collections at London Fashion Week beginning Feb. 12.

Spain to standardize women's clothing sizes
Window displays will have to reflect true female form
Associated Press - January 25th 2007.

MADRID, Spain–Spain's government has reached an agreement with major fashion designers, including the owner of the Zara chain, to standardize women's clothing sizes with the aim of promoting a healthier image.

Designers such as Cortefiel, Mango, El Corte Ingles and Inditex, which owns Zara, agreed to take part in the program, which was announced Tuesday.

The program, designed by the health ministry, will also prevent those companies from using window displays featuring clothes smaller than a European size 38 (10 in Britain, 8 in the United States). They will have five years to phase in the change.

"It is not reasonable for a modern and advanced society to establish stereotypes of beauty that are far removed from the social reality of a community. It is everyone's commitment that beauty and health go hand in hand," Health Minister Elena Salgado said.

The agreement follows last year's unprecedented decision by Spain's main fashion show, Madrid's Pasarela Cibeles, to ban some models from the catwalk on grounds they were too thin, saying such a look encouraged eating disorders among young people.

The health ministry's program aims to end a situation in which a woman who buys a size 40 dress from one designer may not fit a size 40 garment from another designer. The ministry said the differences sometimes lead women to feel compelled to lose weight.

Designers should be encouraged to "promote a healthy physical image that conforms with the reality of the Spanish population,'' the ministry said.

The agreement also stipulates that European size 46 no longer be specifically labelled as a larger size.

As part of the effort to standardize sizes, the ministry plans to measure 8,500 Spanish girls and women aged 12 to 70 to determine the true shapes of Spanish women's bodies.

Mother's plea: modelling isn't worth life
Andrei Khalip - November 18th 2006.

Rio De Janeiro - The mother of a Brazilian fashion model who died from anorexia has made an emotional appeal for parents to take better care of aspiring models.

Ana Carolina Reston, 21, died in hospital on Tuesday from an infection caused by anorexia. She was about 1.72 metres tall but weighed only 40 kilograms. This is considered a normal weight for a 12-year-old girl no more than 1.5 metres tall.

Her death comes amid growing criticism of the use of underweight models in the fashion world. The issue was highlighted in August when Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos died of heart failure during a fashion show in Montevideo.

"Take care of your children," Reston's mother Miriam told O Globo newspaper. "No money is worth the life of your child. Not even the most famous (fashion) brand is worth this."

She said her daughter had been trying to help her family with the money she made as a model.

Ms Reston spoke on national television and to local newspapers to highlight the issue. She said she had pleaded with her daughter to eat more and to see a doctor.

"She would reply, 'Mummy, don't mess me around,"' she told one paper.

Over a picture of Reston wearing lingerie, the tabloid O Dia ran the headline: "Dictatorship of skinny look kills a model."

Many top models come from Brazil and thousands of young girls from all walks of life dream of following in the footsteps of Gisele Bundchen or Adriana Lima. Reston was not famous but she had worked overseas and did some jobs for Giorgio Armani.

There was a storm in the fashion world in September when models below a certain weight were barred from Spain's top fashion show in Madrid.

Models with a body mass index of less than 18 were banned. BMI measures weight relative to height.

Reston's was 13.5. Those with a BMI below 17.5 are diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and a BMI nearing 15 is an indicator of starvation.