The first was a piece on Franca Sozzani's blog post pointing the finger of blame at Facebook for the rise in anorexia and disassociating it from the pressure of modern models and the image they portray in magazines. Now, bearing in mind that Sozzani is the editor of Italian Vogue, of course one must take this with a pinch of salt. It does feel a bit like defensiveness rather than a well thought through argument. However, there has been a study published showing a relationship between time spent online and the decrease in girls' positive body image and rise in eating disorders. But what are these girls looking at? Could it be online images from the magazines? Or is the time spent online a consequence of the eating disorder? Who knows. but I think that it is better to take responsibility in all that we do to assist these girls rather than to try and shirk this responsibility, pointing fingers elsewhere. It just seems more proactive and positive that way.
And then I read a piece about designer Hervé Léger, who thinks that the girls on the runway these days are "too skinny, too sad" compared to the original super-girls like Cindy, Claudia, Naomi, etc. Looking at runway images from the Max Azria-designed Léger range shown this season, it does rather give him a point. The good news is that the current retro-trends look so much better on a healthy-sized figure, so hopefully we will continue to see the rise in the less-skinny model. And I am also embracing this trend, looking for more beautiful, healthy, 'plus' sized models for my magazine stories. Anyone keen to get shot for O magazine?