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FASHION

French fashion heavyweights ban ultra-thin models

A host of French-owned fashion labels spanning Christian Dior to Saint Laurent pledged Wednesday to ban ultra-thin models from their advertising and catwalk shows following criticism that the industry encourages anorexia.

Published: 6 September 2017 10:03 CEST
French fashion heavyweights ban ultra-thin models
AFP
French holding companies LVMH and Kering, which own dozens of top brands between them, unveiled a charter “to ensure the well-being of models” which will also outlaw the hiring of girls under the age of 16 for adult shoots or events.
   
In May, a French law requiring models to present a doctor's certificate attesting to their good health was introduced to try to tackle the problem of the industry promoting thinness and unattainable beauty ideals.
 
READ ALSO:
France cracks down on super-skinny models
File photo: Francois Guillot
 
The two French groups said they wanted to go beyond this requirement and would only use female models who were size 34 or over according to the French system, and men sized 44 or over.
   
Size 32 in France corresponds to XXS, or size 6 in Britain and size 0 in the United States.
   
“Respecting the dignity of all women has always been both a personal commitment for me and a priority for Kering as a group,” the company's billionaire chairman François-Henri Pinault said in a statement.
   
“We hope to inspire the entire industry to follow suit, thus making a real difference in the working conditions of fashion models industry-wide,” he added.
 
Building new standards
 
As well as the age and size stipulations, the charter includes other measures such as banning the serving of alcohol to models under 18 and ensuring they have a guardian or chaperone present at all times.
   
“As the leader in the luxury sector, we believe it is our role to be at the forefront of this initiative,” said Antoine Arnault, a board member of LVMH and son of owner Bernard Arnault, in a statement.
   
“We have the responsibility of building new standards for fashion and we hope to be followed by other players in our sector,” he added.
   
Speaking to AFP, Arnault explained that some unnamed designers worked with size 32 models.
 
“That's finished now, the size will be 34 and above, which is already quite small,” he said.
   
LVMH is a luxury goods behemoth that owns classic French brands Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Givenchy as well as other high-end European names including Fendi and Marc Jacobs.
   
Kering owns Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen and Saint Laurent among others.
 
In 2015, Saint Laurent had to withdraw a magazine advertisement in Britain over its use of of an “unhealthily thin model” and earlier this year, it caused outrage with a poster campaign around Paris.
   
In those pictures, a reclining woman in a fur coat and fishnet tights was pictured opening her legs, while another extremely thin model was photographed in a leotard and roller skate stilettos bending over a stool.
   
The head of the French advertising authority said they were part of a disturbing trend in fashion promoting “porno-chic” and the label was ordered to remove them.

FASHION

Paris exhibition celebrates 100 years of French Vogue

A new exhibition in Paris will tell the story of 100 years of French Vogue - from the post-war 'New Look' of Christian Dior through the sexual liberation of the 1960s to the dangling-cigarette waifs of the 2000s.

Published: 7 October 2021 08:21 CEST
French Vogue celebrates 100 years
French Vogue celebrates 100 years. Photo: Thomas Olva/AFP

But as well as celebrating the magazine’s storied history, the exhibit comes at a time of turbulence for the publication.

Just last month, it was confirmed that its editor of 10 years, Emmanuelle Alt, was out and wouldn’t be replaced.

She was not alone.

Looking to cut costs, owner Conde Nast International has axed editors across Europe over the past year, and put international Vogue editions under the direct control of global editorial director, Anna Wintour, in New York.

New York-based Anna Wintour now has overall control of French Vogue. Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

Like much of the media industry, Vogue is struggling with tumbling sales and ad revenue in the digital era.

But the latest twist is also part of the endless push and pull between New York and Paris going back to its early days.

“The whole history of French Vogue is one of back-and-forth with Conde Nast in New York – growing more independent for a while, then being reined back in,” said Sylvie Lecallier, curator of the new exhibition, “Vogue Paris 1920-2020″, which opened this weekend after a year’s delay due to the pandemic.

The Paris edition was often the loftier, more bohemian sibling to its more hard-nosed New York version.

But it was also the hotbed in which much of 20th century style and womenhood came to be defined.

“Paris was the place to hunt out talent and content and bring it to New York,” said Lecallier.

The exhibition charts the evolution from art deco drawings of the 1920s through the erotic image-making of photographers like Helmut Newton in the 1960s and 1970s.

Its last peak was under editor Carine Roitfeld in the 2000s, who brought back a provocative Gallic identity by ridding the newsroom of foreign staff and becoming a fashion icon in her own right.

Her successor, Alt, was a quieter presence, though she still oversaw key moments including its first transgender cover star, Brazilian Valentina Sampaio, in 2017.

But internet culture has created “a perfect storm” for Vogue, says media expert Douglas McCabe of Enders Analysis.

“The first 80 years of Vogue’s life, it had the market to itself, it was the bible for fashion,” McCabe told AFP.

“But online today, there are so many other ways to get your information. Influencers, Instagram, YouTube — everyone’s a threat.”

In a world where new fashion trends can blow up around the world in seconds, it has become much harder for a monthly magazine to set the pace.

“It’s not that they can’t survive for another 100 years — but they will be differently sized,” McCabe said.

Vogue has tried to branch out into different areas, including events.

“I used to work for a magazine, and today I work for a brand,” Alt said on the eve of French Vogue’s 1,000th issue in 2019.

But the big money was always in print, and Vogue Paris sales are dropping steadily from 98,345 in 2017 to 81,962 to 2020, according to data site ACPM.

It is perhaps unsurprising that the new top job in Paris, redefined as “head of editorial content”, went to Eugenie Trochu, who was key to building the magazine’s online presence.

She declared herself “thrilled to be part of Vogue’s international transformation”.

For the curator of the exhibition, it is ironic timing.

“We had no idea it would end like this when we started work on the exhibition,” said Lecallier.

“Who knows where it will go from here.”

The exhibition Vogue Paris 1920-2020 is at the Palais Galliera in Paris’ 16th arrondissement. The gallery is open 10am to 6pm Tuesday to Sunday and is closed on Mondays. Tickets for the exhibition are €14 (€12 for concessions and under 18s go free) and must be reserved online in advance. 

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