The above question is one that, shamefully, I have asked myself. At a healthy size 8 (& bigger in the bust) one can feel rather invisible in the fashion world. Browse your average street style blog and note that nearly all subjects are a 4 and under. Sadly, the fashion eye is just trained to seek out skinny silhouettes, so thick (or even just average) girls are hard-pressed to shine through the industry’s carb-starved goggles. But when a model like Doutzen Kroes is told that she needs to lose weight, it’s more than sad – it’s downright scary! The subject of body image was discussed at a pre-NYFW panel, hosted by CFDA at Milk Studios yesterday.

Doutzen Kroes made a decision to take her career in a different direction because she didn’t want to starve herself. “I probably fit the sample size once, when I was eleven or twelve. It became a problem — I was always told lots of times that I should lose weight. It was a thing, ‘You look great, but you should probably lose a few pounds,'” Kroes explained. “That kept going on until I was about 22, and when I was like, ‘This is crazy,’ because I would look in the mirror and I like the way I look.” So Kroes met with her agents: “What we called now a so-called ‘ass meeting,’ because I have one, I have one. It was there, and you know I could maybe get rid of it, I had a choice, not eat maybe for weeks.”

Unlike many models, Kroes had the luxury to choose which direction she wanted to take her career. “I think this is what a lot of girls don’t have now — they have to go back to poor countries if they don’t fit the sample sizes and I hope that after what I’ve done, I’ve chosen that I want to have a healthy lifestyle with the body that I have and work around it and I hope there will be more opportunity for girls to have a choice like that,” she added. In fact, she credits food to her success. “When you don’t eat, you get grumpy, you don’t feel good. So how can you have joy in what you’re doing? And I have that joy and I think that’s what clients see and that’s why I work for two huge global brands. They like working with me, and it’s because I’m eating! There are naturally skinny girls, but not all of them and I’m not one of them.”

Read the rest at The Cut

Photos: freshbrewed.wordpress.com, zimbio.com

20-year old Korean model Daul Kim was found dead in Paris today, reports NY Mag fashion blog, the Cut. As the news spreads a few sources are report suicide theories, but the cause of death has not yet been confirmed by authorities.

Daul broke onto the scene in 2007 and her star was still rising fast. She was also a photographer and painter and maintained a blog called I Like to Fork Myself. Her final post was titled “say hi to forever” and was published yesterday. This track by Jim Rivers has gained some new infamy thanks to the untimely death of a young model.

She had an authentic sense of style:

She was very popular for SS 2010:

Here she is in a fashion film for Richard Nicoll SS ’10:

Picture this: You’re at London Fashion Week, attending the showing of one of England’s premiere designers. It’s one of the best media covered shows of the week and as the show goes on you notice someting: all the models are Asian – not a single white girl on the catwalk. No big deal. The models are gorgeous and look great in the clothes, but still you think “Hmm… I wonder what the designer is try to say. Is Asian ‘in’ right now?”

Now, flip the script. The good news is you won’t have to stretch your imagination this time. You see, the reverse scenario is reality: Tokyo Fashion Week. This isn’t the case all the collections, but it’s notable that those collections featuring Asian models had only Asian models. Segregation 2.0. It isn’t new, so I guess I should expected it. And yet I don’t.

Click photos for larger views:

The Dress & Co. by Hideaki Sakaguchi

Mint Designs

Tiny Dinosaur by Naomi Yamamoto

Fur Fur by Aya Furuhashi

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Of twelve covers this year, Vogue Nippon (Tokyo edition) only featured an Asian model one time – on the November issue.

Is this Ebony Fashion Fair? Nope! It’s Jean Paul Gaultier Spring 2010. The designer apparently tried to hog all the beautiful brown girls in Paris for his Spring 2010 collection this year, casting some of the most buzz-worthy black models in the business right now – including the very pregnant Jourdan Dunn (who is even more gorgeous with a bit of weight on her, BTW).

I have mixed feelings about the collection itself, which is dying to rehash Gaultier’s glory days (the ’90s) – almost stitch for stitch in some spots. I half expected Madge herself to pop up…

photos: wwd.com

L to R: Ermanno Servino, Roberto Cavalli, Versace, DSquared2, Dolce & Gabbana, D&G, Bottega Veneta, Blumarine, Gucci. (Click the photo for larger views)

With a name like Chanel Iman, there’s a hell of a lot of fashion legacy to live up to. Luckily, the 19-year-old model has the genes and the chops to do the name proud. In lesser hands it might just sound hokey. Chanel was one of several black models to make frequent appearances on Milan’s Spring 2010 catwalks. She was by far the busiest – booking at least nine shows, including some of the week’s biggest labels.

A guest spot by EJ at Scene in the City asks of the appearance of more “color” on the Milan runways is a harbinger of change in the industry. At the risk of sounding entirely cynical, I don’t think so. It’s more likely that there is simply a greater number of black models finding that sweet spot in their careers all at once. Afterall, fashion – much like the rest of the arts and entertainment world – loves a star… even when an unknown might actually be better qualified.

It wasn’t just Milan than loved Chanel. Whether showing funky trends or classic cuts, New York and London designers also lined up to book her.

Photos: WWD.com, style.com, nymag.com

Keywords: MENSWEAR, WHITE

MODELS

PEOPLE:

1. President & CEO of Bergdorf Goodman, Jim Gold
2. Rory Tahari
3. Harper’s Bazaar EIC, Glenda Bailey
4. President of Saks Fifth Avenue, Ron Frasch
5. Designer Elie Tahari

Photos: WWD.com

Yes, that means you too Gaultier, Sui, Herrera, and Kors (above). The British model-in-high-demand is pregnant and will be just several weeks from delivery by runway season. Luckily, her lithe 19-year-old frame is sure to snap back into place – maybe even in time for A/W 10/11 shows next Spring. Just kidding! Hopefully she’ll take her time and enjoy because she’s got plenty of time for a great career. – just ask Eva, Naomi, or Claudia. Congrats, Jourdan!

Source: nymag.com