Earlier this year, France passed a law that would prohibit the use of super-skinny models and had consequences of a 75,000 euro (about $81,000) fine and possibly six months in jail. On Thursday, French lawmakers expounded on the earlier bill and passed a law that that will force models to obtain a doctor's note to confirm they are healthy before they apply to jobs, according to The Guardian. The bill states that models will be “assessed in particular in terms of body mass index, is compatible with the practise of the [modelling] profession."
This lets health professionals decide whether models are healthy based on age, gender, and body shape rather than people within the industry. That's not all though, the bill will also require magazines to disclose whether a photo has been altered by placing the phrase “retouched photograph” near the image. Considering that studies have shown the use of super-skinny models may not be all that good for business, requiring a doctor to sign off on a model's well-being can be a strong step toward improving the image of the fashion industry dominated by excessively skinny models and may help appeal to a broader audience. France joins Israel, Spain, and Italy in adopting measures to take action against super-skinny models.
2015 has been a huge year in terms of the modeling and fashion industry being called on their body discrimination. Gigi Hadid revealed how hard it was to find an agency because of her figure, while many other models have spoken out on their experiences of being told they were "too big," even if they were technically underweight. One even shared her story of being ordered to lose more weight after she had already shed sizes. Considering that France is home to one of the biggest and most important Fashion Weeks and a hub of the industry, this is a pretty huge development that could have strong repercussions for big-name designers and labels when it comes to casting for their shows. Hopefully we'll be hearing less and less of those ridiculous stories as laws like this become more popular.
