ULTRA THIN MODELS ABOUND AS LONDON FASHION WEEK OPENS
International Herald Tribune, France
The Associated Press
Published: September 18, 2006
LONDON Ultra-thin models swaggered down the catwalk at London’s Fashion
Week on Monday, opening the glitzy event with a clear rejection
of arguments that waiflike young women should not be permitted to
showcase designs.
Despite a ban on super skinny models imposed by Spanish organizers
at their fashion week in Madrid, slinky women in London were ready
to flaunt the spring and summer collections of designers like Julien
Macdonald, John Rocha and Zandra Rhodes.
A-list stars including Beyonce and Alicia Keys are expected to attend
the Emporio Armani catwalk show on Thursday. U2’s Bono will be on hand
to help launch Armani’s Red collection, which will give a portion of
its profits to help fight AIDS in Africa.
The event, which runs through Friday, has long been known as a venue
for seeing cutting-edge work from creative, young British designers,
while the big fashion houses tend to showcase their wares in New York,
Paris or Milan.
This year, though, there is an air of excitement around the
spring/summer collections from designers including Jasper Conran,
Paul Smith and Betty Jackson, and new talents such as 23-year-old
Christopher Kane.
"We are not a traditional capital for fashion, but we are a very
creative crucible," said Stuart Rose, chairman of the British Fashion
Council, which organizes London’s twice-yearly Fashion Week.
At one of the opening shows on Monday, Paris-based Garen Demerdjian,
a Lebanese-Armenian designer, presented a layered look with shorts
and skirts over long leggings, high cinched belts and leather jackets.
His models, stone-faced with tangled hair, walked slowly down the
catwalk sporting hues of brown, green, apricot, black and silky white
amid flashing lights and trance-like music.
Later, John Rocha presented a collection of cropped cargo pants,
silk shirts and parkas in shades of black, ivory, stone and khaki.
On Tuesday, designer Bella Freud is relaunching iconic 1960s label
Biba, pioneer of kaftans and flamboyant scarves.
A debate over whether models are too thin has raised the profile of
Fashion Week in the headlines, with a government minister’s calls to
follow Madrid’s lead and ban extremely thin models from the catwalk.
"The fashion industry’s promotion of beauty as meaning stick thin
is damaging to young girls’ self image and to their health," Culture
Secretary Tessa Jowell said Saturday.
Rose dismissed calls for a ban as "a knee-jerk reaction," but said
the debate was a legitimate one and he would discuss the issue with
colleagues.
Fashion Week canceled its opening photo shoot to avoid giving the
issue more publicity.
Madrid’s Fashion Week, the Pasarela Cibeles, announced last week it
was banning models with a Body Mass Index, or height to weight ratio,
below 18.
A 5-foot-9 (175-centimeter) model weighing 125 pounds (57 kilograms)
would have a BMI of 18.
"I think that it’s a debate that will happen all in good time, and
all opinions are welcome," supermodel Erin O’Connor said at the show
in west London.
Top model Kate Moss added star power by sitting front row at a
pre-event fashion show for British retailer Topshop on Sunday,
alongside its billionaire owner Philip Green.
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Associate d Press Writer Jessica Gearhart in London contributed to
this report.
LONDON Ultra-thin models swaggered down the catwalk at London’s Fashion
Week on Monday, opening the glitzy event with a clear rejection
of arguments that waiflike young women should not be permitted to
showcase designs.
Despite a ban on super skinny models imposed by Spanish organizers
at their fashion week in Madrid, slinky women in London were ready
to flaunt the spring and summer collections of designers like Julien
Macdonald, John Rocha and Zandra Rhodes.
A-list stars including Beyonce and Alicia Keys are expected to attend
the Emporio Armani catwalk show on Thursday. U2’s Bono will be on hand
to help launch Armani’s Red collection, which will give a portion of
its profits to help fight AIDS in Africa.
The event, which runs through Friday, has long been known as a venue
for seeing cutting-edge work from creative, young British designers,
while the big fashion houses tend to showcase their wares in New York,
Paris or Milan.
This year, though, there is an air of excitement around the
spring/summer collections from designers including Jasper Conran,
Paul Smith and Betty Jackson, and new talents such as 23-year-old
Christopher Kane.
"We are not a traditional capital for fashion, but we are a very
creative crucible," said Stuart Rose, chairman of the British Fashion
Council, which organizes London’s twice-yearly Fashion Week.
At one of the opening shows on Monday, Paris-based Garen Demerdjian,
a Lebanese-Armenian designer, presented a layered look with shorts
and skirts over long leggings, high cinched belts and leather jackets.
His models, stone-faced with tangled hair, walked slowly down the
catwalk sporting hues of brown, green, apricot, black and silky white
amid flashing lights and trance-like music.
Later, John Rocha presented a collection of cropped cargo pants,
silk shirts and parkas in shades of black, ivory, stone and khaki.
On Tuesday, designer Bella Freud is relaunching iconic 1960s label
Biba, pioneer of kaftans and flamboyant scarves.
A debate over whether models are too thin has raised the profile of
Fashion Week in the headlines, with a government minister’s calls to
follow Madrid’s lead and ban extremely thin models from the catwalk.
"The fashion industry’s promotion of beauty as meaning stick thin
is damaging to young girls’ self image and to their health," Culture
Secretary Tessa Jowell said Saturday.
Rose dismissed calls for a ban as "a knee-jerk reaction," but said
the debate was a legitimate one and he would discuss the issue with
colleagues.
Fashion Week canceled its opening photo shoot to avoid giving the
issue more publicity.
Madrid’s Fashion Week, the Pasarela Cibeles, announced last week it
was banning models with a Body Mass Index, or height to weight ratio,
below 18.
A 5-foot-9 (175-centimeter) model weighing 125 pounds (57 kilograms)
would have a BMI of 18.
"I think that it’s a debate that will happen all in good time, and
all opinions are welcome," supermodel Erin O’Connor said at the show
in west London.
Top model Kate Moss added star power by sitting front row at a
pre-event fashion show for British retailer Topshop on Sunday,
alongside its billionaire owner Philip Green.