Grace Coddington Speaks Her Mind On Ralph Lauren Controversy

Grace Coddington speaks up on the Ralph Lauren controversy, saying she is worried about the penchant of the fashion industry for very young and very thin models.


Before she worked side by side with Anna Wintour as the creative director of Vogue, Grace Coddington was a model herself. She sympathized with Filippa Hamilton who claimed being fired by Ralph Lauren for being too fat, but her worry has been more on how today's models are getting younger and thus, more vulnerable to the pressures of the industry.

"It is a big problem. I remember when I was young, they told me that if I didn't lose weight I'd be out of the show, so I spent a week living off of coffee. But I'm a very levelheaded person. These problems nowadays are with kids much, much younger than that, and that's most of the problem — when they're very young and vulnerable."

On the other hand, the 68 year-old director believes that Ralph Lauren has been unfairly criticized for using thin models. For one, it is not only Ralph Lauren who uses thin models in fashion campaigns but most of the high-fashion designers in the industry.

"Most of his models are not super-skinny, so this is sort of an isolated situation, and I think it's unfair if he gets a lot of bad publicity because of it. But it is a big problem in the fashion industry. And you go to meetings to discuss it, and you think it's kind of futile, because it's such a big thing, and in the end, people are always asking for more and they're always asking for thinner."

So how do Grace Coddington and the people in the industry address this issue? Will they now stop using skinny models in fashion campaigns and replace them with women of healthier sizes? Why do high-fashion photo shoots choose thin models, by the way?

"They have to be a little thinner than you and I because you always photograph a little fatter, but you don't have to go to the extremes they go to. And because they're kids, they take it too far, and they can't regulate their lives, and next thing you know they're anorexic, and it is tragic.

"And I don't know what the answer is, except to keep on it, which we're all trying to do. Anna's trying to do it. Personally we're not allowed, at Vogue, to work with girls who are very thin, but you never know, because you could book them and think they're a certain size, and they turn up on the shoot and suddenly they've spun into this anorexic situation. And you're on the spot and you have to get the job done and you have one day to do it, and what do you do? But you try to be responsible, as Anna is."

We also don't know the answer Grace, except that with all these posts about weight getting too much, we might finally figure out what annoys us... when models are, in fact, meant to look better than everyone else.

Plus-Size Model Emme Urges Women To Protest Against Ralph Lauren

Emme, one of the largely recognized leading and highest earning plus-size model in the industry today, is urging women to speak out against the way Ralph Lauren is fraudulently presenting women in its advertising campaigns.


Emme's statement against Ralph Lauren is sparked out by the controversy surrounding the excessive digital alteration of Ralph Lauren model Filippa Hamilton and the following termination of her contract over alleged weight issue.

As a pioneer in plus-size modeling, Emme also had her share of unjust termination because of weight gain:

"As a model I was released from jobs for no apparent reason, just saying that they were moving on, and it was understood. I had to be thick skinned to deal with the industry."

Currently the host of Fox's reality dating series, More to Love, the 46 year-old model believes that the only way to change the trend of the fashion industry for favoring thin and digitally altered models is to make consumers speak up and take action:

"It's time for women to start uniting online and communicating about this, to really put their foot down. They are in the driver's seat, because they are the ones spending the money!"

Emme also calls on powerful design company to represent a more realistic image of the American woman in their advertising campaigns:

"Ralph Lauren needs to change the way he promotes the beautiful American family. He needs to use more diverse models, including plus size ones."

Ralph Lauren Model, Fired For Being Too Fat?

Remember Filippa Hamilton, the unfortunate model who's image has gone through extensive photoshopping just to become the ultra-thin model of the controversial Ralph Lauren ad?


Well, Ralph Lauren has already issued a statement that admits to the irresponsible retouching of the model's photo, resulting in "a very distorted image of a woman's body."

But do you know that the supposed ultra-thin model has been axed by the company since April?

Filippa Hamilton, 5'10" and size 4 (120-pound), has revealed in her recent media interview that she was fired by Ralph Lauren because she was "too fat." On the Today show, the 23 years old Swedish-French model says, "They said I couldn't fit in their clothes anymore."

She added that her agent has received a letter from Ralph Lauren in April that says, "We're terminating your services because you don't fit into the sample clothes that you need to wear."

It seems like a size 4 model will never be thin enough for Ralph Lauren so that if they are unable to slim her through photo retouching, they send her out of the company for good.

A spokesperson for Ralph Lauren has denied the model's accusation and insisted that she was not terminated because of her weight but because of her "inability to meet the obligations under her contract."

Filippa Hamilton, on the other hand, maintains that she has been loyal to the company for eight years: "I did everything that I could. I was very loyal to them. I was on time every time."

The model's decision to speak out and publicize her complaint has been sparked by the photoshopped image of her on Ralph Lauren ad that shows an ultra-thin woman with her head appearing bigger than her waist and pelvis.

"They photoshopped her in a way that for me is grotesque and makes her look like a cartoon. The trouble is that it's damaging to her. Who wants to hire somebody that looks like that?" says Filippa Hamilton's lawyer to NBC News.

For her part, Filippa Hamilton says:

"It's not a good example when you see this picture, every young woman is going to look at it and think that it is normal to look like that. It's not. I saw my face on this super-extremely skinny girl, which is not me. It makes me sad. It makes me think that Ralph Lauren wants to have this kind of image. It's an American brand... and it's not healthy, and it's not right."