“It Is The Ultimate Vicious Cycle” Former Vogue Editor Speaks Out On Starving Size Zero Models

We know that many of us may never look like that model that walks a runway for famous designers, but after Kirstie Clements recent comments in the Guardian newspaper, who would want to be that girl?

The former Vogue Editor submitted a column to the paper, an extract from her book The Vogue Factor, where she discusses the shocking impact of models trying to remain tiny sizes, Clements discusses at length how some of the models were so starved, they would often have to lie down during photo shoots due to exhaustion and lack of food.

Clements talked through her career in the article, describing how when she first began dealing with models that they would eat lunch and were a natural “willowy type” that had buckets of energy. However, Clements began to notice drastic changes, particularly when she asked a model how her knees were cut and she replied that: “Because I'm always so hungry, I faint a lot.”

However, the most disturbing case was a model she encountered who lived with what Clements describes as a “fit model”. This model in particular would work for the designer’s studio when they were first working on a project, so was unnaturally skinny, so skinny that she was often hospitalized. What was even more disturbing, this seemed like an ordinary everyday occurrence.

The Editor even claims she has never known a model to be hot, not even during a desert shoot due to a lack of food.

Clements is also quick to criticize both men and women in relation to the size zero problem, she claims that many fashion editors “perpetuate the stereotype.”

Although there have been complaints from within the industry about the sizes the models currently are, Clements voice as a former Vogue editor is an important one and one that clearly outlines the changes over the years.

The full piece can be read on the Guardian website here. It makes for very interesting reading.