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Size 4 Model Deemed Too Big For Runway?
By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 16, 2010
Modified Feb 16, 2010
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Feb 16, 2010
Modified Feb 16, 2010
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After the NY Times published a "Fashion Diary" entry on model Coco Rocha, who dared to be a size 4 in a size 0 world, the Daily News posed the above question on their front page today: "Is she too fat to be a runway model?"
To back up, in the Gray Lady's piece, the model asks" “Everybody knows that a fashion model needs to be skinny, but how skinny is too skinny?” She says she's no longer in demand for shows, and that she's even "been told to lose weight when I was really skinny." The model maintains a healthy attitude, however, saying that 21-year-olds should be able to have a hamburger when they want one, and 14-year-olds shouldn't starve themselves and curb their appetites through Adderall addictions and smoking habits. Indeed.
But the answer to her question, how skinny is too skinny, is nowhere to be found. In fact, papers like the New York Times flip-flop on the size issue. In the same week that they published an article about curves making a comeback, they also practically lambasted actress Christina Hendricks for her curves, altering an image while the writer used a quote from an anonymous stylist to call her a "big girl."
As for the Daily News, who made Rocha their cover girl today, they say she's fashion's latest victim, and that the industry is still calling normal girls "fat." In fact, last week the Council of Fashion Designers of America held a symposium discussing the industry's "sample size," which is currently set at zero. Some are fighting to get it to a 4 (Rocha's size).
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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