Do we follow fashion out of an underlying, bitter self-loathing? In response to a German magazine’s decision to cease using professional size-zero models, Karl Lagerfeld commented that “No one wants to see curvy women,” elaborating that it is fat women with low self-esteem who wish to see curvier figures: “you’ve got fat mothers with their bags of chips sitting in front of the television and saying that thin models are ugly.”

What Karl is suggesting is that women who are thin, i.e. nearer to a model ‘standard’ of perfection, do not have a problem with the illusory portrayals of feminine beauty. I have to disagree. Women, whether curvy or skinny, all suffer from our misguided attempts to constantly self-evolve to fulfil a preposterously narrow definition of what constitutes true female attractiveness.

The size-zero debate is not a new phenomena, however what seems to becoming increasingly more prevalent is that ‘everyday’ women are speaking up about their desire to see more portrayals of real female figures in the public domain. What we want is an honest reflection of heterogeneous beauty in society, not a minute proportion of it.

Lagerfeld, the much celebrated designer and creative director responsible for keeping Chanel relevant in the fashion industry for a quarter of a century, believes that fashion is all about “dreams and illusions”. Indeed, it is the desire and coveting of items he creates that keep the cogs turning in this multi-million pounds industry.

Fashion is, in many ways, an art form that seeks to cater to our longing for idealised, hyper-perfect aesthetics. Women, whether curvy or size-zero are both equally wrapped up in the hysteria around the industry. The difference between the two camps is that, while one has been cherry-picked to sell the items, the other functions purely from a consumer and spectator standpoint.

Agreed, supermodels hold an almost unattainable aura – the pictures we measure ourselves up against might have taken hours to create, not to mention post-production effects, and yet we often use them as a perfectly acceptable barometer of our own self-worth.

The question is, is banning stick-thin supermodels from fashion and lifestyle magazines the answer?
For those of us who are in love with the concept of high fashion, will we feel a sense of disheartenment at a change to these illusionary art forms, or will we begin to value ourselves more as a by-product?

Many fashion insiders, including the outspoken Lagerfeld, feel that advertising fashion on average women will decrease its appeal. There seems to be double-standards at play here – comments that there is no place for the average-sized model in fashion belies the fact that fashion can still be at its illusory and fanatical best without featuring skeletal, zombie-esque clothes hangers. Fashion can still retain its edgy and avant-garde reputation by being innovative in its representation of idealised art that many women enjoy.

We buy clothes to feel better about ourselves, buying into these ideals so acutely force-fed to us be it on intern blogs, tv programmes or womens’ glossies. The question is not whether women should increasingly starve and mould themselves into these impossible benchmarks of fashionable chic, but why the fashion industry hasn’t undergone a few nips and tucks itself.

Take a company like Dove. Yes, it shamelessly taps into women’s insecurities in order to sell its products, but nevertheless, its messages of self-acceptance and multiple-facted vision of beauty cannot be more cynical than the self-esteem plummeting enhanced adverts we are so familiar with.
It is obscene to envision women as merely sheep following fashion’s flock (often dictated by men who ironically do not even find the female physique sexually attractive), but perhaps it might help if haute couture subscribed to the idea that thin is not the ONLY way to create powerful and effective myths for female consumption. When you look at the bare bones of the issue (no pun intended!), it seems laughable for a industry to promote its collection on models who fail to properly fill out the dresses intended to be showcased.

I am sure Lagerfeld made his comments in a nonchalant and offhanded way, but they reveal a great deal about the correlation between fashion ideals and self-esteem in women. Granted, we spend vast amounts of money obtaining these items promising such powerful myths, and do not need a change in norms to ensure the survival of the industry. But maybe it’s time for the needs and values of everyday women to be reflected in an industry so vigorously intertwined with their self-worth.