Lights. Camera. Action. The modelling world is all glitz and glam. Those fortunate enough to work in this industry have got to be blessed with good lucks, a good body, they must be courageous optimistic and daring.
Those involved in this competitive industry have their image pulled and tugged to suit a look that the stylists want to achieve. With feelings aside, the model is nothing more than a brand, which is stripped of their own image, and put into the shoes of another in order to achieve a certain look that the company is looking for.
Kate has been involved in the modelling industry in Ireland for almost 2 years now. She was originally scouted in New York and was asked to join Fords modelling agency. She declined; however, this wasn’t the end of her career. She is now working with Compton modelling agency.
She has appeared on Xpose on numerous occasions and even participated in Miss Universe Ireland last year.
When speaking to Kate, she said; “The biggest thing is when you first start out you’re really eager to please everyone, but you’re not what everyone’s looking for. They might want a blonde instead of a brunette, or someone smaller or someone curvier. Once you get into that mode after a while you do realise it’s nothing personal against you”.
Kate believes that in order to be successful you should “be realistic about your expectations. The modelling scene is really competitive. You’re not going to walk into an agency and then be on the red carpet. You have to start at the bottom and work your way up”.
Kate, who is 5’11 and is a tiny size 8 eight, confesses, “ I don’t have to diet to be honest. I love my donor kebab after a night out. I’m lucky that way because I know some girls who do worry about their figure”.
Internationally successful models such as those who are involved in Victoria Secret such as Miranda Kerr, Adriana Lima and Candice Swanepoel. Preparation for their annual runway show takes a year of practise between attending the gym, getting fitted for their outfits, appearances and making sure their signature walk is perfect.
Candice Swanepoel is a Victoria Secret model and has received criticism because of her rapid weight loss, which has attracted negative media attention. She claims her shrinking frame is from “stress” and she didn’t purposely try to loose the weight. Victoria Secret aims for their models to look healthy and curvy, not skeletal.
According to Celbitchy.com;“South African stunner Candice Swanepoel made an appearance recently in Los Angeles to model the new line of swimwear by Victoria Secret her slight figure causes a major stir”.
Overnight, there was a buzz cropped up about Swanepoel’s seemingly shocking weight loss, given that she appeared thinner in L.A that she had in photos taken only months earlier. HollywoodLife.com went so far to call her “scarily, skeletally, stock-thin” and CBSNews.com called her ‘startlingly slim’.
During New York Fashion Week in November, Swanepoel, 22, told ABCNews.com that she was having trouble keeping weight on. “Actually, this year my problem has been more putting the weight on and getting muscle because it’s been really busy,” she said. “I’ve been travelling around like crazy. I get skinner if I’m very busy”.
Calls to representatives for Victoria’s Secret were not immediately returned.
All models in the industry struggle to get to any level of success and they face many difficult hurdles in their paths. Rumours circulate of the latest “must-do” ways to keep thin. For example eating cotton after being dipped in orange juice, games to see who can eat the least and so on.
International agencies also felt the pressure for their models to loose some extra pounds so they can be booked with clients.
Faye Dinsmore is a graduate from Trinity College Dublin. She is originally from Donegal and is the youngest of a family of fourteen. Faye now spends her time between Paris, New York and London. She is part of a new generation of models following in the footsteps of Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell.
Faye has achieved international success. On the advice of her agency she set up a Facebook Page, something Faye herself thought to be an incredibly self-obsessed thing to do. She only ever expected to have just a few hundred people 'liking' her but to her surprise the number of fans of her page has just passed 225,000. This makes her, by a considerable margin, the Irish person with the most likes on Facebook.
She is a trim size 8 eight and is over 5’11. Despite the overwhelming support from fans, her agent has advised to loose more weight if she wants to continue to be successful in the world of fashion and subsequently book the clients. She lives with 4 other models and is considered “the fatter one”.
In February of this year, models were allowed to walk the runway at London Fashion Week without getting health checks to insure that their BMI was at least 16. Despite the fact that health regulations were brought in to place, they weren’t enforced at this glamorous event. Images of stick thin models shocked the world. This has sparked controversy as to what impact these images will have on tender teens.
Are the media to blame for showing these images to the world? Anorexia and bulimia has always been an issue in the modelling industry, with some agencies and companies fighting against the “stick thin” image. Whereas other agencies believe that the only way that people will book their models is if they are super skinny, which subsequently puts their health at risk.
Anorexia and bulimia has always been a problem especially amongst teens. According to allaboutlifechallenges.org – Anorexia Bulimia are eating disorders, which can have a major impact on the body. While professional mental health care is crucial for individuals suffering from these disorders, so too is medical evaluation and treatment. Self-imposed starvation and binge/purge cycles have serious physiological effects.
Research from bodywhys.ie found in a 2007 study of Irish children and adolescents, 1.2 per cent of Irish girls may be at risk of developing anorexia nervosa, with 2% at risk of developing bulimia nervosa. Nervosa is the need for perfection.
Eating disorders are most prevalent in females in the 15-40 age group, where up to 0.5% may develop anorexia and up to 2% may develop bulimia.
How many other young women have to die to this viscious disease?
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