So many factors determine how successful a fashion model can become - age, height, weight, and even skin color. The road to becoming the "it" model is very competitive and should really come with a health warning.
"BEST BEFORE" LABEL
International fashion models start as young as 12 years old. At this age, society is still accepting if she is 5'8" and weighs 100lbs. But what happens when she gets older? How does she keep up with competing against the younger models with natural waiflike bodies? This is one of the main reasons models in their late teens and early twenties develop eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.
"In 1965, the average model weighed 8 percent less than the average woman. Now she weighs 23 percent less, according to the National Eating Disorders Association." The Examiner.
Competition can kill you. Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston died at the age of 21 from a generalized infection weighing only 88 pounds.
"CAN LEAD TO SUBSTANCE ABUSE" LABEL
The life of a supermodel is very glamorous. She gets paid a lot of money, visit exotic destinations and meet interesting people. Her daily life is filled with go-sees, fashion booking.... And parties. Imagine sending your 12 year old daughter without a chaperone to Paris or Tokyo. Exactly. Without parental supervision, models are susceptible to the substance abuse that is commonly associated with the jet set lifestyle.
Party favours almost killed the career of Kate Moss when she was photographed snorting it up her nose. Alcoholism has ended one too few supermodel careers like Janet Dickinson's. Designer drugs that slows down natural changes in a woman's body - hips and breasts - are popular with models who want to get an edge on the competition - "A fashion designer first introduced me to it, and the waif look has always been favoured by the best designers. It's much easier simply not to finish puberty than it is to binge diet."
copyright 2007 The Designer Diva
RELATED ARTICLES:
