1/10/13

Markus Klinko on Skinny Models

I was just reading this article and I was struck by how intense Mr Klinko's feelings were on the topic of skinny models.

from the cover of Markus Klinko's book, "Icons"

  "I like to talk about this actually. Maybe we’ve talked about this before, but specifically about the body shape of a girl like Kate Upton. She is a real woman with curves; she’s not a skinny, anorexic, 90-lb 6ft tall girl. Let me be more clear though. I am not against skinny girls. If a girl is naturally skinny, they can be very sexy and very beautiful, but what I don’t like is all these modeling agents and all these designers pushing these poor 14 and 15-year-old girls, who happen to be very tall and very thin already, to become anorexic and be so unattractively skinny. I just don’t understand why and who wants that. I think that this is why celebrities have taken over the covers of fashion magazines because I think that people aren’t interested in skeletons. People want real women.
  I can tell you for sure that women with curves are hotter than women that are sticks. But again, when Kate Moss first started out, she was very skinny and yet attractive. However, when you look at girls who are naturally a little bit curvy and they are forced to become so skinny that they are no longer themselves, then I get very upset.
  To all the designers out there: If girls don’t fit the sample size, just make the sample bigger. That’s it. That’s the solution. Why do the samples have to be so small that no normal woman can fit into it? I just don’t get it. Take the biggest stars of today–none of them are super skinny and they look fantastic in designer clothes. Why do we need girls who model them to be insanely unhealthy? This is another reason why we dedicated our book, Icons, to celebrities and women who are real trendsetters, like Beyonce, Eva Mendes, Lindsay Lohan–those are real women with real bodies.
  I wish that the modeling world would be a bit more diverse. I think that it’s good that Model Mayhem exists. I think at least it gives a chance to girls who are not necessarily 5’11″ and ultra thin to start modeling and they can do different kind of photos and maybe even get discovered. They may end up on the cover of Sports Illustrated, because clearly they are not looking for skeletons and I think Kate Upton is a very good example. I’m sorry for the long answer, but I’m very passionate about this."

Read more of the interview here.



As for myself, I would take his premise a step further than his mention of sizes 4-6 and welcome a return to the golden age of the supermodel, when sizes 6-10 (US) were the norm for models. They were gorgeous, yet still provided a more attainable and healthier influence for women. Cindy Crawford has been wonderfully outspoken about healthy body image and in her heyday she was a 6-8. I find it absurd that she would be considered "plus-sized" in today's industry. You'll never convince me that this is fat. "I would not have become a supermodel in 2009, I look too healthy. A body like mine with big breasts, normal thighs and toned upper arms would not be tailored for today's runways."

2 comments:

  1. As much as I appreciate his thoughts, it still irks me when people are all, "REAL women have curves!", cuz clearly those other women not blessed with curvy genes are 'fake.' :\ Dissing is dissing, even if it goes the other way (for once).

    All women are real, Markus! Even the ones who get fake things put in! Once the Singularity happens and we all get new cyborg bodies, then you can whip out the real vs. fake. ;)

    But yes, it's baffling that Miz Crawford would be considered plus size. I'm clearly an orca. :D

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  2. Amanda, I completely agree about the terminology. I have known many a willowy girl who did not have much in the way of natural hips or breasts, who were made to feel ashamed of their bodies and that is not right. We should not exchange one form of body-shaming for another.

    I have also been close to people struggling with anorexia or bulimia, and their bodies were not made to be the shape that they were. It was carefully and obsessively molded by their own illness as well as outside pressures. They were certainly real women with real struggles, but the molding and shaping of their bodies was almost a manufacturing process. I think that is what some people mean by "real", as absolutely annoying as the term is. I have worked to phase it out of my own vocabulary when discussing body image.

    I also hate when "curvy" is used interchangeably with "plus size". It makes finding clothing that fits right difficult.

    And you my zaftig darling are clearly not an orca. You know your body, you dress for it, and you glow. That is what any woman could ask for when it comes to presentation. Let's face it, yer a hottie. Own it.

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