Sao Paulo models must verify health with medical certificate

It is unfortunate that sometimes death has to occur to motivate people into change. In the home nation of Ana Carolina Reston, the model who recently died because of anorexia, fashion week in Sao Paulo Brazil in Januray will have some new rules. The Brazilian fashionistas do not want anyone else to die because of the influences of their industry. So now, they are settings boundaries. According to Fashion Week creative director Paulo Borges:

"Everyone needs to play their part in recognizing their responsibilities and obligations in an ethical and pro-active way."

The new rules: Catwalkers must be 16 years old or older, and modeling agencies must submit to the fashion week organizers signed medical certificates attesting to the healthiness of their models. That means, you will no longer see sickly stick-looking pre-pubescent teens strutting their stuff on the runway trying to sell clothes to people twice their age.

In Italy, the government and fashion chiefs are currently putting together an industry Code of Good Practice which includes similar rules to Sao Paulo's. The Tipping Point is happening people! I expect that soon we will hear similar standards coming out of the other major fashion cities.

It's exciting to see the changes happening, and although things are probably not going to completely flip-flop overnight, there is movement in the healthy direction. After the catwalks, I would hope to see the fashion magazines mimic the runway standards. As consumers, we can do our part by making our voices heard and do things like blog, and by not purchasing from the designers who do not support the healthier standards.

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