Karl Lagerfeld Defends Skinny Models - 'No One Wants to See Round Women' - StyleList

Skip to Content

Love our makeover? Tell us what you think.

Karl Lagerfeld Defends Skinny Models - 'No One Wants to See Round Women'

by Katie Hintz-Zambrano (Subscribe to Katie Hintz-Zambrano's posts), Posted Oct 12th 2009 at 2:55PM
This is a post
Filed under: News
Print Email More
karl lagerfeld in wide tie

Karl Lagerfeld looking a little wide himself -- in the tie and collar area. Photo: Pascal Le Segretain, Getty images

Karl Lagerfeld, who famously dropped 92 lbs in 13 months in order to squeeze into skinny Dior Homme duds -- and wrote the book, "The Karl Lagerfeld Diet," about it -- is defending the waifs who march down his runways, and calling out the "fat mummies" who complain about them, according to The Guardian.

Lagerfeld was interviewed by the German magazine Focus, during which the designer responded to the announcement of best-selling German magazine, Brigitte's commitment to using "ordinary, realistic" women instead of professional models in future fashion spreads, the U.K. newspaper reports.

Lagerfeld, speaking in German, his native tongue, told Focus that Brigitte's plan was "absurd," and that the women complaining about too-skinny models were just fat and jealous.

"These are fat mummies sitting with their bags of crisps in front of the television, saying that thin models are ugly," the Chanel designer tells Focus, going on to say that the fashion industry supports "dreams and illusions, and no one wants to see round women."

According to The Guardian, he also tries to dispel the myth that skinny models have eating disorders.

"It's just as much a cliché as saying that all models take drugs and get drunk at sex orgies," he says. "Ninety percent of them are quite normal, properly proportioned girls with less fat and more muscles, who also eat pizzas and burgers."

Brigitte's editor, Andreas Lebert, sees things differently. On October 5th, he told The Guardian that after years of "fattening up" too-thin models through Photoshop, starting on January 2nd, the magazine will start working with real women only.

"Today's models weigh around 23% less than normal women," Lebert told the paper. "The whole model industry is anorexic. We will show women who have their own identity, the 18-year-old A-level student, the company chairwoman, the musician, the footballer."

Of course, all of this comes on the heels of Ralph Lauren's emaciated ad and, at the opposite extreme, Glamour'scommitment to showing plus-size models and women of more diverse sizes.

So, how do you weigh in on the model controversy? Is Lagerfeld right to defend his runway rails or are Brigitte and Glamour taking steps in the right direction?

Leave a comment below!
Filed under: News
Tags: fat, german magazine, GermanMagazine, glamour plus-size models, GlamourPlus-sizeModels, karl lagerfeld, KarlLagerfeld, model controversy, ModelControversy, photoshop, plus size models, PlusSizeModels, real women, RealWomen, skinny models, SkinnyModels
Print Email More

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 12)

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Most Recent | Next 20 Comments
 

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

ADVERTISEMENT

Only on StyleList

Sale Rack

Giveaway

Alison Brod PR Swag Bag Courtesy of Alison Brod PR

Celebrity Swag Bag

Score the loot the stars love!