This Week in the Mercury
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Fashion / Ethics Skinny Model Season (Yayyyy... )
Posted by Marjorie Skinner on Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 1:58 PM
With runways around the world showing next season's looks, attention once again in being paid to the ongoing debate over skinny models. Madrid is holding to its word and having models checked for a body mass index minimum of 18 before being allowed to walk (only one out of 45 models were eliminated). The CFDA maintains its hands-off approach and receives the expected criticism. Through the din (which is not nearly as deafening as it was last year) comes a very clearheaded analysis of the issue from the Huffington Post:
So then why do we keep seeing such delicately thin young girls model clothes meant to be sold to women with mature figures? One little addressed reason may have to do with the manufacturing process: it's cheaper and easier to mass manufacture clothes that have less built-in shape. Garments with less shaping hang more attractively on linear bodies. Bust darts, waist darts and curved seams are all more difficult to both fit and sew than straight seams. These are the elements of tailored garments that enable clothing to sit smoothly over shapely curves. But-- it takes time and expertise to perfect these elements and this can cost a lot of money. Additionally from a financial perspective, garment pattern pieces with straighter seams can produce better yield from a bolt of fabric. Think about it like this: if you have two cookie cutters, one square and one round that you apply to equally sized sheets of dough, which will give you more cookies with less wasted dough in between?Fashion cycles keep whirling faster as stores both encourage and cater to consumer demand for a constant influx of new merchandise. Designers are being pushed to their limits to keep up. In today's global market place, having a fashion business is all about dealing with economy of scale- if you can't produce quickly and in large volume, it is very, very difficult to stay in business.
It's definitely worth a read if the issue troubles you at all, and it rightly doesn't let anyone, including consumers, off the hook.
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Erm...check out the Lille Boutique ad to the right.
"Garments with less shaping hang more attractively on linear bodies. "
Actually, garments with less shaping look terrible on linear bodies, but they do effectively hide "undesirable" elements of less linear bodies. The linear bodies want fitted waists, not baby doll shirt/dresses. The larger issue is that everyone looks better in properly fitted clothing. It isn't any surprise that the fashion industry is pushing designs that are easy to construct.
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