Tyra Banks supports Vogue’s new Health Initiative for models, and has even gone a step further to show how important the new initiative is in an industry where “there’s no such thing as being too thin, as long as you don’t pass out.”
She’s written an open letter to all models, applauding Vogue’s new rules and regulations, and even talks about her own experience dealing with the pressures to be thin.
She writes:
“To models around the world, I want to celebrate Vogue’s recent groundbreaking announcement. The editors of Vogue’s 19 international editions have pledged to ban models from their pages who “appear to have an eating disorder,” to create healthy backstage working conditions, as well as several other revolutionary initiatives. This calls for a toast over some barbecue and burgers!
When I started modeling, I used to see models who seemed unhealthy backstage at fashion shows. They appeared to be abusing their bodies to maintain a certain weight. These girls were booked over and over again for countless fashion shows and photo shoots. I’m sure many of you today have witnessed this, or even live it. Now, real progress is finally on the horizon. Vogue is stepping up, doing the right thing, and protecting that girl. Perhaps that girl is you!
People get upset with you if you’re a very thin model. What many don’t know is that a certain sample size has been set by the industry, and you’re doing everything in your power to keep working. At times, I feel there’s an unspoken rule that says, ‘there’s no such thing as being too thin, as long as you don’t pass out.’
In my early 20s I was a size four. But then I started to get curvy. My agency gave my mom a list of designers that didn’t want to book me in their fashion shows anymore. In order to continue working, I would’ve had to fight Mother Nature and get used to depriving myself of nutrition. As my mom wiped the tears from my face, she said, ‘Tyra, you know what we’re going to do about this? We’re going to go eat pizza.’ We sat in a tiny pizzeria in Milan and strategized about how to turn my curves into a curveball. In a way, it was my decision not to starve myself that turned me into a supermodel, and later on, a businesswoman.
On America’s Next Top Model, I mentor girls on television. When that TV goes off, I actually mentor other girls in the modeling industry—girls that have not been on Top Model, but who appear in Vogue worldwide. On late night calls, I console them as they confide in me about their bodies maturing, and not being able to fit into sample sizes anymore. Now I know you all will still call me for advice, but I don’t think there will be as much of: ‘I’m hungry, Tyra, and I’m tired. But I still want to do runway and high-fashion work. I want to stay on top.” With Vogue’s new mandates, things, I hope, will now change for the better.'”
Read the rest of Tyra’s letter here!
Getty Images
