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Carole Mikita Reporting No matter what the fashion trends, models remain painfully thin. Now, another group is calling for that to change.
Suzy McCarty, founder of McCarty Agency, has represented models for more than three decades. She says she has seen very few problems here but in recent years, some young people are focusing not on models, but another group.
Just this year, Madrid banned super skinny models from its runways. Milan followed shortly after. Now, The Council of Fashion Designers of America is focusing on this issue. Led by Diane Von Furstenberg, the group is ready to release new guidelines. But some are saying the industry won't go far enough.
Cynthia Bulik, Ph.D., Prof. of Eating Disorders, UNC: "Our concerns with the fashion designers' guidelines is that they just don't take the problem with eating disorders seriously enough."
The designers' recommendations do not include age and weight requirements for models. Doctors at the Academy for Eating Disorders are releasing their own:
- Requiring models be at least 16 years of age to be on the runway
- Adopting a minimum Body Mass Index depending on the model's age and gender
Last November, Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston, age 21, died from complications of anorexia. Carol Alt, who walked the runways in the 1980s, knows the pressure to stay thin.
Carol Alt, Model: "You have to fit sample size. And if you don't, they're not going to make the samples big enough to fit you. The agency pressures you, the designers pressure you and you know what, I pressured me."
Susie McCarty founded McCarty Talent Agency in the mid 1970s. She represents all ages and says no one has to be a size 0. She says the problem today is super thin actresses and the constant images of them.
Susie McCarty, Founder, McCarty Talent Agency: "I think a lot of the actresses and stories about them on TV all the time about being bulimic and anorexia and I think they are exposed more to the actress than they are to the model. One of the beautiful things in this life is seeing a really healthy, fit body and mind, and it's amazing how many of these young people have that."
Susie believes obesity is an even greater problem and agrees with doctors that anorexia and bulimia are emotional, psychological problems that go far beyond wanting to look like someone on a runway or in a magazine.
