Casting light

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Wintour passes the responsibility back on to the designers, describing the “tyranny of clothes that fit, just barely, 13-year-olds on the brink of puberty” when discussing the issue at a panel at Harvard. Designers have publicly blamed agencies for providing only models of a certain size. Few of the groups responsible for creating the current standard of beauty seem to be willing to take ownership of its problems or accept the challenge of making change.

There are campaigns that Bear feels are moving in the right direction. As well as designer Fast, who has continued to show larger models in his spring runway show, she cites the well-known Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. Dove is a sponsor of NEDIC, and she is careful to emphasize how choosy the organization is when accepting corporate sponsorship. To date, Dove is the only company in the beauty and self-care industry who has made the cut. These forward-thinking marketers and fashion leaders are still only a beginning, she says, but should be commended and encouraged to continue.

Bringing the campaign to the public

The campaign also aims help encourage the women and girls to think about the images they’re surrounded with. To help raise awareness, a transit shelter ad was put up at a prominent Toronto corner. The interactive ad doubled as a trash bin, showing piles of glossy women’s magazines through plexiglass, and inviting other women to “shed your weight problem here” by dumping their copies.

The campaign techniques all draw people to the NEDIC website, where they can find out more information, as well as sign a petition in support. The petition states that “I agree that fashion leaders and marketers should broaden their definition of beauty and inspire us with looks that are beautiful and attainable.” They ask marketers and others behind the creation of beauty image ideals to sign a pledge to show looks that are “beautiful and attainable by casting responsibly and retouching minimally.”

In the end, Bear hopes that women will help NEDIC bring the message to fashion leaders and marketers in a way they can’t ignore. “If they don’t consider the harm they’re doing, people will, and people vote with their pocketbooks.”

Signy Gerrard is the Director of Communications at the Canadian Women’s Health Network.

Visit www.nedic.ca to see more of the campaign and sign the petition