hip-ocracy

This picture features the most celebrated plus-size model of the moment; Crystal Renn. There’s no denying that she’s beautiful, with her long dark hair, high set cheek bones,perfect lips and her admirable confidence. Unkle Karl and Mr Gaultier see it too. At a size 16 (US) Crystal’s hip measurements stretch further than her thinner counterparts, then again, so does her career. In her bank account there lies, reportedly, SEVEN figures!! The most important point to note is that she often talks openly about her battle with anorexia and how she is finally “free” and happy with her body, in order to encourage others to feel the same. She is the “patron of plus-size” and an inspiration to real-sized girls everywhere.

so how can this more recent image be explained?

After much confusion about Crystal’s dramatic weight loss, it recently came to light that this was the work of a computer. The photographer of the pictures; Nicholas Routzen, defended his decision to retouch the photos by stating “I shaped her…I did nothing that I wouldn’t do to anyone. I’m paid to make women look beautiful.” Once again the fashion industry is to blame. Surprise, surprise, but how can this be defended? And how long must this go on? With every type of body shape and size being morphed into one ideal, is it likely that a fuller figure will ever be accepted?

Photo-shopped or not, there are other pictures which show Crystal looking much thinner than she was. Take for instance the new JPG campaign (her first for a major label )

She (left) is barely larger than the typical size 2 to her right. With any noticeable weight loss, can Crystal really promote body confidence? To me, it suggests that she is just another victim of this industry and affirms that a larger lady can never accept carrying the extra weight.

On the forums, people like to constantly underline the fact that she is a REAL woman, just like us, and has the right to succumb to pressure, just like we do. NO SHE DOESN’T!!! Relapse an almost inevitable part of recovering from an eating disorder but, as the face of recovery, Crystal Renn is NOT a real woman anymore. She has carved herself the image of a “plus size icon” that girls can look up to and should, therefore, be aware of the message that any sort of weight loss will send out. Although she has condemned this level of retouching, it still comes across that even with all the success, money and praise from others, nothing comes close to bones. Therefore, models, as well as designers and photographers, need to understand that they are responsible for maintaining a  consistent and stable image especially when they influence on such a large scale.

In any high fashion magazine there is rarely a consistent number of plus-size models within each issue, and if there is, it is usually one to every 100 xylophone-rib-caged robots. If you are going to use plus size models in a magazine, is it fair to use only one and make them stand apart to appear as the minority? NO, it’s ridiculous to do that. However, admittedly, and thankfully, times are changing. On nearly every catwalk in the autumn/winter collections, the models had a LITTLE more meat on their bones which is a vast improvement when comparing it to any previous season in the past 10 years.

I once believed that models were mere coat-hangers and that all eyes were on the creations. Why should models represent real woman’s bodies because if that is not their job? That was a naive opinion to have, but after having being heavily influenced by the industry over the past few years, i now know the power it has and pressure it exerts. However, with great power comes great responsibility for the industry and there have, undoubtedly, been many steps towards its recovery. Perhaps it the re-touching of these photos, is a just relapse in the fashion industry’s addiction to size-zero?