German Magazine Swaps Thin models For Real Women

Germany's most popular women's magazine announced Monday that it is banning professional models from its pages in favor of "real women" in an attempt to combat an unhealthy standard of rail-thin beauty that it says has isolated its readers.

The editor-in-chief of Germany's bimonthly Brigitte told reporters that, starting next year, the magazine will feature a mix of prominent women and regular readers in photo spreads for everything from skin care beauty to fashion to fitness. Andreas Lebert said the move is a response to readers increasingly saying that they are tired of seeing "protruding bones" from models who weigh far less than the average woman.

"We will show women who have an identity the 18-year-old student, the head of the board, the musician, the football player," Andreas Leberts said in Hamburg, where the magazine, published by Gruner+Jahr, is based.Fashion centers around the world have begun trying in recent years to combat the size 0 look that has come to dominate the fashion industry, contributing, some experts say, to eating disorders and poor body image. In 2004, the Dove skin care beauty products company launched its own "Campaign for Real Beauty" that included print and billboard ads showing "real women," of all shapes and sizes, posing in their underwear.


In 2007, the U.S. Council of Fashion of Designers of America issued voluntary guidelines to curb the use of overly thin models.You can tell kids, "Love yourself just the way you are," all you want, but when you show up on air with a different weave every episode and dedicate countless segments to beauty products that will help prevent wrinkles by smearing placenta on your face, you're kind of sending mixed signals.

"Sometimes, children, your natural beauty products is a gift you should cherish and worship just the way it is, but sometimes it's a beast you should beat in line when it starts to deviate from the picturesque ideal you have in your head."

Fashion officials in Madrid set a minimum body-mass index, and those in Milan tightened restrictions. Efforts gained urgency after 21-year-old Brazilian search model Ana Carolina Reston died of anorexia in November 2006, weighing 88 pounds (40 kilos).On its Web site, Brigitte announced to readers that "A New Epoch has Begun" and women to submit a portrait and full-body photos of themselves to considered for a photo shoot.

Jessica Heidari, 21, was also enviably fit. Having worked as a traditional model in the past, she read about the search in Shape magazine and decided to give fitness modeling a try. We could certainly see her striking a pose for a line of athletic clothing or nutritional drinks a couple of the potential employers in this category.

Acosta also pointed out that many mainstream advertisers like car companies are looking to fitness models these days to target certain health-and-wellness minded demographics.
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"We will pay the same fee as we would for professional models," Lebert said, adding that the magazine views the move as an investment.Last Saturday, Gold’s Gym in Plano was taken over for the day by a team from New York on the prowl for the next top fitness modeling in the modeling.

Lebert said his magazine's move "should not be understood as a declaration of war on the modeling profession."

"We are not going to become a magazine for plus-sizes," he said.

Brigitte has suffered a steady drop in readers over the past 20 years but, with more than 719,000 copies sold per issue, it remains Germany's most-read women's magazine.

Louisa von Minckwitz, who owns the German-based Louisa Models agency, told The Associated Press she believed the ban on search model was a marketing gag that would not last for long.

"Women want to see clothes on a beautiful, aesthetically pleasing person," von Minckwitz said.


source : hostednews.com
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