A Body to Die for: Body Measurements and BMI Values Among Female and Male Runway Models

Abstract

Runway models play a central role in creating and promoting cultural beauty and body ideals. However, little is known about body measurements (BMs) and anthropometric health parameters among this modeling population. The main purpose of this quantitative study is to describe BMs and anthropometric health parameters to understand the severity of thinness among models. Secondary industry-reported data were analyzed to quantify female and male models’ BMs and to assess anthropometric health parameters over seven consecutive fashion-week seasons. Low and decreasing BMs and body mass index values, over these years, provide alarming evidence that extreme thinness seriously affects models’ lives and general health. Considering the reach of fashion images and their detrimental effects on consumers, as well as the commonality of eating disorders among professional models, this study implores scholars in the field of clothing and textiles to consider feasible and compelling scholarly initiatives and cross-disciplinary collaborations to uncover problem solutions