Italy Bans Ultra-Thin Models

This year has been an eye-opener for the fashion industry.

In September, Madrid banned all models with a BMI below 18. The Spanish Association of Fashion Designers suggested that 30 percent of Spanish models would fail the test, and wouldn't be able to participate in the Fall 2006 Fashion Week.

Then this month models participating in Sao Paulo's January fashion show (January 24-29) must show proof of good health as part of a campaign launched after Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston died last month of anorexia. Models under the age of 16 will also be banned from the show.

Now Italy is jumping on the bandwagon working to crack down on the incredibly thin models in an effort to promote healthier looks.

Powerful Milan fashion houses first resisted calls to copy the Spanish regulations, with Italian National Fashion Chamber head Mario Boselli saying in September that only "maybe one girl in a hundred" could be defined as too skinny.

Italy plays a key role in the fashion industry, meaning its participation in this campaign to promote good modeling health and well-being will be well-acknowledged. The campaign will be launched before the Milan Women's Fashion Week in February.

Flaminia Spadone, an aid to Minister Giovanna Melandri who is working on a self-regulatory code of good practice for the industry, explains she would like everyone involved in the modeling industry including photographers, agencies, and volunteers to help the cause.

She said models who came under 18.5 on the index -- the World Health Organization's definition of underweight -- should be banned from working for the sake of their own health. "In the Third World, if someone has an index of less than 18.5, they send in humanitarian aide," she said.