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The Beauty of Health: Resizing the Sample Size
On February 9, 2010, Dr. David Herzog served as moderator for a lively panel discussion titled “The Beauty of Health: Resizing the Sample Size.” Hosted in NYC by The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), this event convened nearly 150 leaders of the fashion industry to address concerns about the increasing number of unhealthy, too-thin models. Each of the six illustrious speakers – including casting director James Scully, designer Zac Posen and model Doutzen Kroes – offered valuable perspective on the size 0 standard: its evolution, its adverse impact on models, its negative consequences for many facets of the fashion industry and – despite these effects – its persistence.
Next, members of the audience joined Dr. Herzog and the six panelists in a dynamic debate about what would help improve the well-being of models. The overall feeling was that body dissatisfaction among models is partly due to the high percentage of girls who enter the profession in their early to mid-teens, when their bodies are still growing. These models are often too young to cope with the demands of the highly competitive fashion world and may be vulnerable to developing unhealthy eating habits as their bodies reach adult proportions. Out of this dialogue grew the recommendation to set a minimum age at which a model can begin to work. Yet this was not the only feature that made the evening memorable. Also impressive were the passion and energy surrounding the topic at hand, a level of commitment that – if sustained – could help change industry standards from those that are unrealistic to those that support health.
The evening served as an exciting prelude to the Harris Center’s Public Forum scheduled for March 22, 2010 at Harvard Business School. Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue magazine will speak at this event, which is titled “Health Matters: Weight and Wellness in the World of Fashion.” Both the CFDA program and the Public Forum represent the growing conversation between the fashion industry and the scientific community of eating disorders researchers and clinicians in a campaign to help models – and young people everywhere – to feel good about themselves and their bodies.
This page was posted on February 24, 2010.
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