Under-18 models may be banned from catwalk

Model Rosie Nelson was a size eight but was asked to lose weight by a top modelling agency in the UK

A ban on models aged under 18 from the catwalk is expected to be recommended by MPs later this month, the Victoria Derbyshire programme has been told. But will this protect models, and the people who admire them, from problems like eating disorders?

Model Rosie Nelson was a size eight when she says she was told by a top agency to get thinner. So she dieted and exercised until her ribs were sticking out.

"I went back four months later and they said, 'We just want you to get down to the bone.' I just sat there and thought, 'I can't lose any more weight, I've lost pretty much everything.' I was skin and bone at that point," she says.

Ms Nelson, from Sandhurst, Berkshire, started a petition calling for better healthcare in the modelling industry, which attracted 119,000-signatures. In December, she presented it to Parliament with Caroline Nokes, a Conservative MP who is leading an inquiry into body image.

Very thin models concern many people both in and out of the fashion industry because of the health implications for the girls and women and the message it sends to those who admire them.

'Boyish look'

The MPs' inquiry followed the collapse of a voluntary code of conduct introduced a decade ago to keep young teens off the catwalk. But models as young as 14 have continued to appear at London Fashion Week.

The inquiry team is expected to recommend at the end of the month that under-18s should be barred.

"Legislation is what would, at a stroke, make sure that you weren't seeing 15 to 18-year-olds with a BMI of 15.6 being told they had to lose weight," Ms Nokes told the BBC in December.

Caroline Nokes MP and model Rosie Nelson have teamed up for the campaign to protect models from becoming "dangerously thin"

Ms Nelson says the move would change designers' approaches: "I think on the catwalk especially, under-18 is too young, it does encourage a boyish look - a boy's body is quite straight and women do have hips, it's just how we naturally are.

"Having a girl who is underdeveloped and skinny, when we're modelling womenswear, it's not representing women."

Other countries including France and Italy have already legislated in this area, with France creating rules about a minimum body mass index for models and Italy demanding health certificates.

A minimum body mass index had been suggested for the UK - but Ms Nelson and others do not think that would work.

"You can stick numbers on anyone but it doesn't represent their body type, how tall they are really, what their body looks like. So I have a very low BMI but I am still told I am too heavy for some jobs," she says.

Model 'delirious'

It was ultra-skinny models that made British designers Rose and Willard make their own rules for photoshoots. They have added a clause to contracts that says models have to eat when working for them.

Heidy Rehman, founder and managing director said: "We had one model come in for a test shoot - she was hungry - but about three in the afternoon she was delirious, holding on to something. We had to send her home.

"The demand for how a model looks comes from the designer so what we're saying is we're not going to be part of that demand."

But she does not necessarily agree that banning under-18s from the catwalk will work.

"It's good that this is being talked about at a high level, but over 50% of models start between 13-15. The industry will argue that it's being discriminated against because under-18s can work in other industries."

Melanie Rickey, a former model and fashion journalist also disagrees.

"The fashion industry is a very visible industry, it represents beauty, money, success. It's an easy fall guy for any of the issues that face young women today. There are pressures but it's the responsibility of the agent or the parent to keep an eye, no legislation is going to take that place."

She think changes will happen as the consumers for the shows themselves change.

"In the old days, pre-digital, fashion shows were for the industry. Since the digital age, with blogs and Instagram you can see any show instantly. The general public are much more aware, are watching them, and what they want is to see the clothes they're seeing on the catwalk in the shop tomorrow.

"If you look at the supermodels of now, the ones with the biggest Instagram accounts, like Gigi Hadid and they are 'normal'."

"I have a very strong suspicion when these shows become more commonplace, you and I won't want to see a 17-year old size six model wearing those clothes, we want to see a woman like us. This question is coming to the end of an era."

The Victoria Derbyshire programme is broadcast on weekdays between 09:15 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel.