Fab Flash: Coco Rocha Speaks Up At The CFDA Model Health Discussion

“She wakes up in the morning, goes to the bathroom to take a shower and runs by the full-length mirror because she can’t bare to look at herself naked. She only weighs 104 pounds, but all she can think is, I need to be thinner. She hurries to her first show, where she promises herself she’ll eat a few grapes. But when she gets there, there’s nothing but pastries. First looks are called, she puts on her dress and it takes three people to zip her up. The dresser makes a joke, ‘We almost had to call the agency and tell them you didn’t fit.’ All the girl can think is, I better not eat until tomorrow.” Those were the words of model Coco Rocha as she described a day in a model’s life at the CFDA discussion on “The Beauty of Health: How the Fashion Industry Can Make a Difference.”
In conjunction with CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg and Michael Kors, the model and her colleagues spoke up about the imminent health dangers of modeling in an industry where the pressure to stay thin is heavier than ever. Rocha told the audience: “They said, ‘You need to lose more weight — the look this year is anorexia, and although we don’t want you to be anorexic, we want you to look it,’” she recalled. “My question is, how do you look anorexic unless you actually are?”
The discussion aimed to shed light, knowledge, and understanding on the pressures models experience with the rest of the fashion industry. Along with encouraging agencies to work with nutritionists and trainers, Kors suggested for people to treat the models not at mannequins, but as actual people. The meeting was very necessary and hopefully made more of a step in the direction towards healthier models.