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Ultra Thin Models Abound As London Fashion Week Opens

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  • Ultra Thin Models Abound As London Fashion Week Opens

    ULTRA THIN MODELS ABOUND AS LONDON FASHION WEEK OPENS

    International Herald Tribune, France
    The Associated Press
    Published: September 18, 2006

    LONDON Ultra-thin models swaggered down the catwalk at London's Fashion
    Week on Monday, opening the glitzy event with a clear rejection
    of arguments that waiflike young women should not be permitted to
    showcase designs.

    Despite a ban on super skinny models imposed by Spanish organizers
    at their fashion week in Madrid, slinky women in London were ready
    to flaunt the spring and summer collections of designers like Julien
    Macdonald, John Rocha and Zandra Rhodes.

    A-list stars including Beyonce and Alicia Keys are expected to attend
    the Emporio Armani catwalk show on Thursday. U2's Bono will be on hand
    to help launch Armani's Red collection, which will give a portion of
    its profits to help fight AIDS in Africa.

    The event, which runs through Friday, has long been known as a venue
    for seeing cutting-edge work from creative, young British designers,
    while the big fashion houses tend to showcase their wares in New York,
    Paris or Milan.

    This year, though, there is an air of excitement around the
    spring/summer collections from designers including Jasper Conran,
    Paul Smith and Betty Jackson, and new talents such as 23-year-old
    Christopher Kane.

    "We are not a traditional capital for fashion, but we are a very
    creative crucible," said Stuart Rose, chairman of the British Fashion
    Council, which organizes London's twice-yearly Fashion Week.

    At one of the opening shows on Monday, Paris-based Garen Demerdjian,
    a Lebanese-Armenian designer, presented a layered look with shorts
    and skirts over long leggings, high cinched belts and leather jackets.

    His models, stone-faced with tangled hair, walked slowly down the
    catwalk sporting hues of brown, green, apricot, black and silky white
    amid flashing lights and trance-like music.

    Later, John Rocha presented a collection of cropped cargo pants,
    silk shirts and parkas in shades of black, ivory, stone and khaki.

    On Tuesday, designer Bella Freud is relaunching iconic 1960s label
    Biba, pioneer of kaftans and flamboyant scarves.

    A debate over whether models are too thin has raised the profile of
    Fashion Week in the headlines, with a government minister's calls to
    follow Madrid's lead and ban extremely thin models from the catwalk.

    "The fashion industry's promotion of beauty as meaning stick thin
    is damaging to young girls' self image and to their health," Culture
    Secretary Tessa Jowell said Saturday.

    Rose dismissed calls for a ban as "a knee-jerk reaction," but said
    the debate was a legitimate one and he would discuss the issue with
    colleagues.

    Fashion Week canceled its opening photo shoot to avoid giving the
    issue more publicity.

    Madrid's Fashion Week, the Pasarela Cibeles, announced last week it
    was banning models with a Body Mass Index, or height to weight ratio,
    below 18.

    A 5-foot-9 (175-centimeter) model weighing 125 pounds (57 kilograms)
    would have a BMI of 18.

    "I think that it's a debate that will happen all in good time, and
    all opinions are welcome," supermodel Erin O'Connor said at the show
    in west London.

    Top model Kate Moss added star power by sitting front row at a
    pre-event fashion show for British retailer Topshop on Sunday,
    alongside its billionaire owner Philip Green.

    ___

    On the Net: http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk

    ___

    Associate d Press Writer Jessica Gearhart in London contributed to
    this report.

    LONDON Ultra-thin models swaggered down the catwalk at London's Fashion
    Week on Monday, opening the glitzy event with a clear rejection
    of arguments that waiflike young women should not be permitted to
    showcase designs.

    Despite a ban on super skinny models imposed by Spanish organizers
    at their fashion week in Madrid, slinky women in London were ready
    to flaunt the spring and summer collections of designers like Julien
    Macdonald, John Rocha and Zandra Rhodes.

    A-list stars including Beyonce and Alicia Keys are expected to attend
    the Emporio Armani catwalk show on Thursday. U2's Bono will be on hand
    to help launch Armani's Red collection, which will give a portion of
    its profits to help fight AIDS in Africa.

    The event, which runs through Friday, has long been known as a venue
    for seeing cutting-edge work from creative, young British designers,
    while the big fashion houses tend to showcase their wares in New York,
    Paris or Milan.

    This year, though, there is an air of excitement around the
    spring/summer collections from designers including Jasper Conran,
    Paul Smith and Betty Jackson, and new talents such as 23-year-old
    Christopher Kane.

    "We are not a traditional capital for fashion, but we are a very
    creative crucible," said Stuart Rose, chairman of the British Fashion
    Council, which organizes London's twice-yearly Fashion Week.

    At one of the opening shows on Monday, Paris-based Garen Demerdjian,
    a Lebanese-Armenian designer, presented a layered look with shorts
    and skirts over long leggings, high cinched belts and leather jackets.

    His models, stone-faced with tangled hair, walked slowly down the
    catwalk sporting hues of brown, green, apricot, black and silky white
    amid flashing lights and trance-like music.

    Later, John Rocha presented a collection of cropped cargo pants,
    silk shirts and parkas in shades of black, ivory, stone and khaki.

    On Tuesday, designer Bella Freud is relaunching iconic 1960s label
    Biba, pioneer of kaftans and flamboyant scarves.

    A debate over whether models are too thin has raised the profile of
    Fashion Week in the headlines, with a government minister's calls to
    follow Madrid's lead and ban extremely thin models from the catwalk.

    "The fashion industry's promotion of beauty as meaning stick thin
    is damaging to young girls' self image and to their health," Culture
    Secretary Tessa Jowell said Saturday.

    Rose dismissed calls for a ban as "a knee-jerk reaction," but said
    the debate was a legitimate one and he would discuss the issue with
    colleagues.

    Fashion Week canceled its opening photo shoot to avoid giving the
    issue more publicity.

    Madrid's Fashion Week, the Pasarela Cibeles, announced last week it
    was banning models with a Body Mass Index, or height to weight ratio,
    below 18.

    A 5-foot-9 (175-centimeter) model weighing 125 pounds (57 kilograms)
    would have a BMI of 18.

    "I think that it's a debate that will happen all in good time, and
    all opinions are welcome," supermodel Erin O'Connor said at the show
    in west London.

    Top model Kate Moss added star power by sitting front row at a
    pre-event fashion show for British retailer Topshop on Sunday,
    alongside its billionaire owner Philip Green.
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