Fashion Woes

It pains me to say this, but NY Times’ article “Checking Model's ID’s at the Door,” will have no effect on the modeling industry. No one will become miraculously safer now that . Sure the exposure is nice, but the popular audience cares as much about model safety as they do about Asian worker mistreatment by Apple. The product, sadly, justifies the means it takes to get said product. The new line of models are more desirable than the fashions that they will be promoting during this year’s February installment of New York fashion week.
Is this right? OF COURSE NOT. However, as long as people continue to support modeling agencies who fill their Runways with mentally ill, anorexia weakened, 14-year-old girls, nothing is going to change. This is brutally unethical, and we as a society support this industry although it is destroying its employees. Even the individuals who are supposed to be regulating the fashion industry, like Council of Fashion Designers of America’s president, Diane Von Furstenburg has done nothing to advance the cause of safety and promote clear images of beauty to the fashion or public community. She said to NY Times, “If we haven‘t done anything else, we certainly have created awareness.” This statement is absolutely ridiculous. Awareness won’t inspire action for complacent individuals who are comfortable and even pleased with the results of the fashion industry’s ancien regime. Only actions will inspire change and more action.
The  lack of punishment for breaking modeling rules sends negative messages to masses of women. First, it weakens women by only placing women of a certain ethnicity and waistline on the pedestal of the fashion industry. The fashion industry only promotes one idea of beauty, thus larger women, Hispanic women, African American women, etc. will start to degrade themselves and depreciate their value and beauty. They will no longer be able to find beauty when they look in the mirror, for they won’t see what popular media has arbitrarily defined as beautiful.