Proclaiming Thinness: Ralph Lauren Models And The Ideal Woman

Despite the controversy over the ridiculous retouching of one model and firing her for said weight gain, Polo Ralph Lauren still makes a proclaimation of thinness by sending skinny models on the runway.


In its every fashion show over the years, ultra-thin Ralph Lauren models walk down the catwalk, making a bold statement for the fashion house's preference for skin-and-bone bodies.

Apparently, those who want to see healthier and thicker bodies on the catwalk condemns the idea. They believe it is time for a change — the fashion industry should now use fuller women on the catwalk, the supposed role model for the healthy American woman.

But Robin Givhan of The Washington Post thinks that it is totally unfair for the fashion industry to be criticized for using thin models. Givhan believes that fashion represents an ideal and so, the thin models that we see on the runway are actually the perfect images of how our society celebrates weight loss.

For Givhan, the skinny models that still make up the majority in the fashion industry have to be seen against the backdrop of a population that is overwhelmingly afflicted with obesity.

"By its very nature, fashion is a business of falsehoods and costumes, all in service to self-definition. The uncomfortable truth about the fashion industry is it has a knack for tapping into unspoken cultural obsessions and taboos. Fashion sets up a rarefied world of perfection that is, in many ways, defined by how much it differs from the mundane, from the norm. And all indicators suggest that as a culture, we hate what we are becoming: fat."

And if there's a decreasing trend of buying glossy magazines, Givhan believes that it is not because the public are turning down publications that feature skinny models, but as a result of the declining economy.

"The fatter the general population, the thinner the idealized woman. And for all the public posturing and blogging, the only force that stopped people from buying clothes and magazines was the souring economy, not righteous indignation over skinny models."