my bmi is 13.7 and I don't give a shiz about this whole "banning skinny models" crap!

FUCK!

THIS IS RIDICULOUS!
Leave Snejana and Vlada alone!

I have to say that I find this all very suspect. As America holds the torch for being 60 to 80% overweight or obese with England quickly following I think that perhaps there is a hidden agenda. I agree that many of the girls are very thin however many of them are born that way hence why modeling is a career for them and not the majority of women. I myself am a 36 year old woman who is 5'10 and 120 lbs. I am neither anorexic nor unhealthy. It is genetic makeup and a high metabolism. So am I too skinny? In order for the majority to relate they must create the ideal. In this case is the ideal going to look good in any designer clothes? I find the current trend of obesity disturbing and just as unhealthy as an anorexic girl. So where do the intentions lie and are they coming from an honest place or a jealous place?? Does this mean the Daria's and Raquel Zimmerman's have to worry about their careers because of the way they were born? Unfair.

I agree that the BMI is a tricky measurement, but I do think that there needs to be some health check on the models. Besides, the modeling industry is partially responsible for anorexia. Think about it. The clothes that Hollywood wears are designed for really skinny models, resulting in skinnier celebrities. And who do many girls look to for in terms of the physical standard? It's one thing to work out towards this ideal body, but sadly it seems like there are a lot of girls going the unhealthy route.

my bmi is 16.306, so i couldn't be a model?
weirddd..

I think because we're faced with images of incredibly and unnaturally thin women in the media SO often, we don't realize that a BMI (for the average sized/muscled/etc person) below 18.5 isn't healthy (unless a person is naturally that size...as in someone who has maintained healthy, normal eating habits throughout maturity, and most likely NOT a girl that started modeling at 12). Forget BMI though. Lets test blood pressure, heart rate, arrythmias, potassium levels, bone density, and thyroid function, amongst other things. Eating disorders kill people of all sizes.

Dawn,
I am well aware that many people have very fast metabolisms and are unable to keep on weight, but I worked behind the scenes in the fashion industry for ten years, and sadly the "high metabolism" model is the exception not the rule. Most models maintain their thinness through drugs, exercise, cigarettes, and extreme dieting. Putting on a few pounds with medical help, if necessary, may allow the competition to be more fierce, but I know of MANY unpublicised deaths that have been swept under the rug. Eating disorders are not something that anyone generally broadcasts. And while I wouldn't say that the fashion industry is the only industry that perpetuates an unhealthy body ideal; but any industry who is glamorizing a certain image has to take a certain amount of responsibility for its message.

Actually, a BMI of 18.5 is hard to reach. Most supermodels are skinny not because they starve themselves, but because it's their natural metabolism --as is my case. If the council goes as far as requiring models to have a BMI of 18.5 in order to walk, I should think that 99.9% of supermodels will be disqualified.
Plus, like many of posters above have expressed, I believe that society is wrongly accusing the fashion industry as a cause of anorexia. People are just looking for an easy way to identify anorexia by pinpointing the fashion industry as a scapegoat.

Lucky Italy. I think that healthy models will inspire designers to work with healthy proportions, and therefore will increase sales to healthy women.
Plus, this will make the arguement that fashion is an art more convincing; art deals with all shapes and colours...animation is what deals with cheap caricature.

Poor Italy.

having had very close encounters with these girls it's alarming how many of them are really seriously DIE-e-ting. It's really sad because they're really young! I'm glad that this is finally going to happen but...i mean i think the 18 BMI is too high. You can still be like 17 or 16.5 and be healthy! I guess the problem is a lot of these girls aren't naturally that thin or they start out at 12 and when their bodies naturally become more womanly the agents are evil bitches and tell them to loose weight. I think an examination and an age limit is the best way to regulate the girls. I really seriously doubt it will ever go to Paris or New york though.Another thing is...it really pisses me off when people go on about this comprimising the designers artistic blah blah. Clothes can look good on non-alien bodies and just slim girls. I mean they're effing young girls, not actual wire-hangers. If you want a rod, buy a rod at home depot.

also, everyone's so fixated on the BMI, that they forget that the procedure to get a license includes checking with other health professionals. which, to me, isn't all the surprising since the most obvious thing about eating disorders is this fixation on weight and losing weight. we often forget that there are other contributing factors to the disorders, namely that it is also a psychological illness. so instead of getting all obsessive about the BMI, don't forget that other checks are gonna be in place, too.

fashion models are deifnitely part of the problem for anorexia and other body image disorders. i think it's stupid how some people are defensive for the fashion industry. i mean, hello. about 3 models have died from anorexia in the past few months. what kind of denial are you living in?and also, a BMI of 18.5 isn't "too high" as someone put it. it's the normal BMI standard. what's this defensiveness for towards the fashion industry? is the success of the industry based on skeleton-like women wearing clothes? gee, i didn't know skeletons wore clothes. i thought skeletons meant that the person is dead which is what happens to a lot of young women and girls with eating disorders. just hearing people criticize this new license to model is so disgusting. i hope none of yall get to decide who gets to walk on the catwalk.

Fantastic news. Snejana has a beautiful face, but she looks a little too close to a member of a concentration camp. An extra 5-10 lbs would make her sexy instead of scary.

I wrote about Snejana on my blog. She seems to be the skinniest model around but gets tons of work. She had a huge spread in Paris Vogue in May. I thought OK, that's Paris Vogue. Now she has a similar length spread in the Jan/'07 Harper's Bazaar. Of course, she been seen all over the runway.

alright, former athlete here who had her BMI or fat % tested numerous times a year. there are some accurate tests that can determine BMI other than calculating height & weight.
2 examples:
-skin density test (this involves large tweezers and pinching of your skin).
-some electrode-thingamajig test where they tape two wires to one foot and one hand. then they measure how quickly currents are sent through your body. they can tell you how much of your body is bone, fat and muscle
what throws off the results is if you have natural breasteses. they add #'s to the BMI. boobies have not been in fashion for a while but will be again...for the boobie-less model, the trick is to be a skinny-obese person (BMI @ 23) where they end up telling you to lose weight! [5'9", 110lbs w/ 23 BMI = fatty.]
a good anorexic shouldn't exercise so she can lose her muscle. she will look skinny & be underweight but with a good BMI.
mind you, in 5-10 yrs she'll have osteopenia/ osteoporosis but who care's... she'll be rich! (does chanel make walking sticks?...cuz i'll take 2 pls)let's hope these girls are all very fine boned, thick skinned with secretly hidden large tits.my guess who's out:
lily donaldson, snejana, natasia, svetlana and half of the ova-s on the runway.

but snejana as gorgeous as she is does not look healthyy

noooo. i love snejana.

But some girls do naturally have a very low BMI. It's not unnatural - it's just the way they were born. I think BMI is a very shady way of assessing whether a person is healthy or not....BTW - Congrats on the Vogue.Fr interview - you look v. chic in your picture..... !

I support this as we all know girls in the fashion industry obviouslly do starve themselves.. the fashion industry should be more healthy not chic more healthy

actually, snejana is only 5'7.5'', so her BMI isn't that low, but it's still low.
I think the BMI requirement is too high, but I do very much support the age requirement. Women aren't supposed to look like prepubescent girls, which we're definately seeing too much of lately.
colormechic.blogspot.com

I think this is a great thing to do but a little contradictory in fashion because don't agencies often tell girls they must lose weight?!?

this is rediculous! Why are people only going after fashion as being the cause of body issues? What about sports stars or movie stars? People should also be held responsible on their own actions and health, not just public figures.

I heard they just proved that BMI is not an accurate measure for body fat. I certainly don't think it's that accurate...it only involves height and weight, which doesn't tell if a person is healthy at all. I think this model BMI thing is going a little out of hand.