New Guidelines Released for U.S. Models

Jan. 12, 2007— -- The fashion-industry group that organizes the biannual Fashion Week in New York has issued a list of recommendations for those ultraslim models parading the catwalks.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) is one of several fashion-industry groups from around the world to encourage -- and, in some cases, force -- models to adopt healthy eating and lifestyle habits. Some of the groups have put out weight limits, though the New York group stops short of that.

Instead, the CFDA guidelines emphasize education -- about the warning signs for eating disorders, and about healthy dietary and lifestyle issues.

The guidelines discourage models from working the runways if they're under 16. In addition, all models should work limited hours, take rest breaks and be supplied with nutritious snacks and nonalcoholic beverages behind the scenes.

They encourage models who do have eating disorders to seek treatment and also recommend that smoking and drinking be banned from backstage areas.

The group, which will host New York Fashion Week starting Feb. 2, says their position is "about awareness and education, not policing."

They add in a statement: "Other groups have set strict rules about how much (or little) models are allowed to weigh. However, the CFDA is not recommending that models get a doctor's physical examination to assess their health or body mass index to be permitted to work ... Eating disorders are emotional disorders that have psychological, behavioral, social, and physical manifestations, of which body weight is only one."

The issue first made headlines four months ago when 30 percent of the catwalk models were banned from the Madrid Fashion Week due to low body mass index.

Since then, governments and institutions have become more sensitive to the subject. "I feel like we should promote health as a part of beauty rather than setting rules," Diane von Furstenberg, the president of the CFDA, tells The New York Times. Von Furstenberg was joined by a nutritionist, a psychiatrist and a trainer in creating the guidelines.