Fashion retailer pulls catalogue with too-skinny models

28th August 2008

Fashion retailer pulls catalogue with too-skinny models

posted in Body Image, Eating Disorders, Fashion |

Just when you thought any sense of corporate social responsibility to be extinct, Canadian fashion retailer La Maison Simons gives us cause for hope.

The family-owned company yanked its own 36-page-color fashion catalogue after receiving more than 200 complaints that the young models on its glossy pages displayed more bone than flesh. Company president Peter Simons apologized profusely for what is usually commonplace in the fashion world:

Those images are “destructive to a more vulnerable portion of the population which is exposed to anorexia. We are into social responsibility here. I’m fully aware of what it is and I’m taking full responsibility for (the catalogue). It’s my job to ensure that we are a constructive actor in the community. I should have done better. I should have seen it,” he said.

Mass media and even glamorization of an overly-thin ideal do not cause eating disorders, but they can certainly lead one down the path to developing one and serve as a constant source of triggers for people with eating disorders. I applaud La Maison Simons for their corporate responsibility and high ethical standards and urge other retailers to take note. I would also encourage La Maison Simons to continue its stand against the promotion of unhealthy body images by adopting and embracing body size diversity (and I’m not talking diversity as in a U.S. size 6) in models featured on its website.

We don’t hesitate to tell companies when we’re angry, but companies need to hear confirmation when they do things right, too. Send a note to La Maison Simons here with your thoughts on their catalogue recall.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 28th, 2008 at 10:35 am and is filed under Body Image, Eating Disorders, Fashion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On August 28th, 2008, Andy

said:

Those last couple of lines in the quote? Literally made my jaw drop.

Makes you want to send it to all the other CEOs and Presidents and say, “SEE? IT’S NOT THAT HARD TO GET IT RIGHT.”

Good on La Maison Simons.

posted on August 28th, 2008 at 11:22 am

2 On August 28th, 2008, Linda

That’s pretty amazing. And, just as an aside, I tell you I’m getting pretty sick of seeing only one body type represented in fashion. Not just from a place of principle. Not even mostly from a place of principle. Mostly just because it’s boring and not relevant to me any longer. What catches my interest is variety.

And just a quibble: I’d argue that a trigger *is* a cause, in the sense of cause-and-effect.

posted on August 28th, 2008 at 11:37 am

3 On August 28th, 2008, ladyjaye

Now, the next step for them would be to acknowledge that there’s a whole market that exists if only they’d include plus-sizes. Sure, the pulling of the skinny-girl catalog is a move on the right direction, but why would I shop in a store where the only things that fits me are gloves, snow hats, scarves and socks?

posted on August 28th, 2008 at 12:30 pm

4 On August 28th, 2008, devil

If mass-media glamorization of an overly-thin ideal doesn’t cause eating disorders, then what does? Did eating disorders exist back when fat was considered healthy (back at the turn of the 20th century)? In old photos, I saw ads on the sides of buildings “Make your kids fat as pigs!” for some product (don’t know what it was).

I’m not trying to start an argument here, I just don’t know when we started becoming aware (on a widespread level) of eating disorders. I thought it was around the 1970’s?

Kudos to anyone who publicly apologizes for a mistake. Good for Peter Simons.

5 On August 28th, 2008, DollyAnn

Well, while I’m glad Simons pulled the catalogue, when I sent them an appreciative e-mail (using Rachel’s link) the first page I was directed to afterwards featured a super skinny model. It felt like after saying, “Thanks for showing an awareness of these kinds of social issues,” I was smacked in the face.

posted on August 28th, 2008 at 12:41 pm

6 On August 28th, 2008, Rachel

Did eating disorders exist back when fat was considered healthy (back at the turn of the 20th century)?

Short answer: Yes. Anorexia (and other disorders) has existed for centuries, but it’s only been in recent decades that eating disorders have begun to be seriously studied and considered a real psychological disorder. I suggest Joan Jacob Brumberg’s “Fasting Girls: The History of Anorexia Nervosa” for a more detailed explanation.

If the mass media caused eating disorders, then there’d be a lot more girls and women with one than there is today. Eating disorders are very complex psychological beasts and as we’re increasingly discovering, have deep organic roots. Extreme thinness in the media certainly doesn’t help stem eating disorder development, but it itself cannot cause it.

posted on August 28th, 2008 at 1:16 pm

7 On August 28th, 2008, devil

Thanks for the scoop, Rachel. I really had no idea EDs could be traced back so far. I mean, I’d read about purging in ancient Rome, but that’s about it. Not exactly a subject covered in standard history classes, huh?

People who’ve been personally affected by Anorexia know a whole lot more about it than I do. After Karen Carpenter died, I saw her brother interviewed. He said that he didn’t think anyone would discover the true cause of Anorexia during his lifetime.

I guess I just blame mass media because it’s an obvious answer. And I’m so annoyed with them anyway.

posted on August 28th, 2008 at 3:29 pm

8 On August 28th, 2008, kate217

My letter:

Dear Mr. Simons,

Please forgive me for not trotting out my high school French, but as I actually want to be completely understood, I’ll spare you my francais a la vache espanol.

I wanted to thank you for not only realizing that images have power, but recalling your catalog as a result. In this era of “I’m sorry you were offended” apologies, it is genuinely refreshing to hear an apology that is an actual admission and statement of remorse.

I have to say that if I weren’t too large to wear your lovely fashions, this would make me even more inclined to do so.

Respectfully yours,
Kate217

posted on August 28th, 2008 at 5:25 pm

9 On August 29th, 2008, keshmeshi

There does need to be more diversity, but I will give some credit to retailers. The few catalogues that I look at seem to have slightly larger models than fashion magazines. Of course, we’re talking a difference of size fours vs. size zeros and twos.

posted on August 29th, 2008 at 10:50 pm

10 On September 19th, 2008, Stephanie

I have to be honest here I hate those skinny models. You know, the ones that have a back bone showing and the neck bones. We can’t forget about the neck bones OH! and the ribs! Ew, who would think that is beautiful. Not me that is for sure!

posted on September 19th, 2008 at 5:18 pm

11 On September 19th, 2008, Rachel

I don’t hate them; I feel very sorry for them. Modeling is a cutthroat business and I can see how a model could very easily develop an eating disorder in such a climate.

posted on September 19th, 2008 at 5:54 pm

12 On October 22nd, 2008, Sheila

I wish there would be more boycotts of clothing companies / publishers who use such imagery. They would soon change their mind when they see their profits fall. As long as they are making good money, they don’t care what others think.

posted on October 22nd, 2008 at 3:17 am