Germany’s most popular women’s magazine has banned professional models from its pages in favour of “real women”, after its editor said he was tired of “fattening up girls with Photoshop”.
Starting next year, the bi-monthly Brigitte will feature a mix of prominent women and regular readers in photo spreads for everything from beauty to fashion to fitness, the editor said.
Andreas Lebert said the move is a response to increasing complains from readers over “protruding bones” on models who weigh far less than the average woman. “From 2010 we will not work with professional models any more,” he said, adding that he was “fed up” with having to retouch photos of underweight models. “We will show women who have an identity — the 18-year-old student, the head of the board, the musician, the football player,” Lebert said in Hamburg, where the magazine, published by Gruner+Jahr, is based.
Brigitte has suffered a steady drop in readers over the past 20 years but, with more than 7,19,000 copies sold per issue, it remains Germany’s most-read women’s magazine.
Members of the fashion industry — from designers to magazine editors to model agents — have begun trying in recent years to combat the size 0 aesthetic that has come to dominate, contributing, some experts say, to eating disorders and poor body image.
In 2004, the Dove beauty products company launched its own “Campaign for real beauty” that included print and billboard ads showing “real women,” of all shapes and sizes, posing in their underwear. In 2007, the US Council of Fashion of Designers of America issued voluntary guidelines to curb the use of incredibly thin models.
Fashion officials in Madrid set a minimum body-mass index, and those in Milan tightened restrictions. Efforts gained urgency after Ana Carolina Reston, a 21-year-old Brazilian model, died of anorexia in November 2006.
On its website, Brigitte announced to readers that ‘A New Epoch has Begun’ and women to submit a portrait and full-body photos of themselves to considered for a photo shoot. “We will pay the same fee as we would for professional models,” Lebert said, adding that the magazine views the move as an investment.
