The Weight Debate

"Fat mummies sit there in front of the television with their chip packets and say skinny models are ugly"-Chanel, Fendi, and Karl Lagerfeld Collection designer Karl Lagerfeld

"In castings, people have slapped my thigh, and I'm not in any sense overweight, I never have been. I've been the same weight for a long time, but they'll slap your butt and be like 'Oooh, fat' in Italian or in French. 'It's too big here'"- Model Sara Ziff

"Still, you know it's easier to look great in a dress when you are skinny. But I like a bit of curves"-Paris Vogue Editor-in-Chief Carine Roitfeld

"Agents would say; you need to lose more weight. The look this year is anorexic. We don't want you to be anorexic, we just want you to look it"-"Last year i took diuretic pills. Once I took so many on an empty stomach that I was doubled over for hours"-Model Coco Rocha

"As I got tinier, my career took off. By the times I entered my second season of shows last September, all I was eating was oatmeal with water for breakfast, a banana and a few grapes for lunch, and plain lettuce for dinner. I stopped getting my period. I discovered my body was no longer able to produce estrogen due to the lack of fat in my diet. The doctor put me on hormones. When I didn't get my period after several rounds, there was freak my ovaries had shut down."-Model and recovering Anorexic/Bulimic Ali Michael

"Fashion is a purveyor of status. It is a badge of honor for having outrun, outfasted saddlebags. Those who can indulge in fashion feel their prize is that much more valuable"-Fashion Journalist Robin Givhan

"Because they're kids, they take it too far and they can't regulate their lives, and the next thing you know, they're anorexic"-Vogue Creative Director Grace Coddington

My Thoughts: As awful as it is, this is the way things are. I don't agree with using sick girls. As with any profession, it is the duty of the employer to take care of their employees if they have a problem. I have seen far too many beautiful girls loose far too much weight and been rewarded with giant careers (i.e. Anja Rubik, Lily Donaldson, Natasha Poly). The fashion world is aspirational and this is what us as a society aspire to. Fashion is about extremes and unfortunately this is just one of them. I do not condone forcing girls to loose weight, but unfortunately if they want to work, they have to...