The reality of body image in fashion

This week in the news Erin Hetherton, one of the most iconic and flawless looking models to grace the dreamful angel dominated catwalk, revealed to the public the real reason behind her leave from the lingerie retailer Victoria Secret. Shockingly, the reason being that she had faced pressures to obtain the 'perfect body image' during her career at the brand. Many of us believe that the models of Victoria Secret are the most confident and beautiful women in the world and we can all admit that we openly wish that we were one of them. We would be lying if we didn't. But is the world of modelling really all that glamorous in reality or is it all just for show and really just a world filled with false preconceptions that are shiny coated in the limelight?

In the recent interview with the magazine MOTTO, Hetherton told the publication that prior to her two previous Victoria Secret catwalk shows, she had been told to lose weight which forced her to obsess over eating healthy regularly and work out at least twice a day. She even expressed to the magazine that her obsession became so out of control that she had contemplated not eating some nights in order to lose weight. This obviously makes us fashion followers really wonder what is going on behind the scenes of the successful multi- millionaire brand which is supposedly meant to promote naturalness and a glowing healthy look for women which is exactly the opposite of what Hetherton was being forced to become behind closed doors.

However, instead of completely criticising the American brand and turning her back on her fellow Victoria secret models such as Adrianne and Candice, Hetherton has used the issue as a way to connect with other girls who have previously or currently suffer from self-consciousness or depression over their body shape. Therefore, after quitting the lingerie brand, Hetheron has made it her goal to raise awareness for other females or even males to listen to their bodies and know it's needs with the hope of empowering other people.


Although Hetherton received this sort of treatment within the industry, issues like this have actually prompted an arguable positivity to occur over female model's body shapes. This can be seen through the law which was put forward in December of last year in France which saw the government take drastic actions to put a stop to underweight models working in the industry. The law consisted of stopping models from modelling in France if they were under the average healthy weight.

To even further clamp down on the issue, it is reported that if a model wants to work in France they must supply the certain agency they are working for with a doctors note. This is in order to prove  that they are healthy enough to work within the industry and that the model obtains the appropriate Body Mass Index.

Furthermore, any commercial photographs that have been digitally edited or photo-shop have to be stated in the disclosure. Any brands that fail to do so can possibly face up to six months in prison and a fine of €75,000.

The retouched photograph law is set to go into effect by Jan. 1, 2017, but for now, there is no such timeline in place for the implementation of the law regarding the BMIs of the models themselves. Before that can happen, France's National Assembly needs to vote on numerous updates to the country's public health code, after which they can hammer out the exact terms and conditions of the law, and how to enforce it.

France is not the only country implementing this law as Israel, UK, Italy and Spain have all adopted similar measures to battle the issue of anorexia and eating disorders within their countries.