Is the fashion industry beginning to change its mind about models? On the heels of the success of Glamour's "real women" photo shoot, comes the announcement from Brigitte, a German women's magazine, that, beginning in January 2010, real women will be featured in spreads that used to showcase models. In fact, the magazine will no longer use models at all! Instead, Brigitte will be recruiting from their pool of readers and will feature their professions and passions alongside photos. Brigitte Huber, editor of the popular magazine, released this statement: "Attractiveness has many faces, whether they are actresses, musicians, first ladies or women on the streets of big cities — they all affect fashion and beauty styles." Editor-in-Chief Andreas Lebert concurred, pointing out that the 3.21 million readers of his magazine would prefer to see woman like themselves on the pages of the magazine — even going so far as to call models "outdated." While only time will tell if the rest of the industry will follow Brigitte's lead, this announcement is hopefully a sign of a larger shift in the fashion world towards sizes that are more realistic and a focus on who the women actually are. Given the success of recent pleas for healthier models from industry insiders and politicians, it seems likely that a healthy and much needed change is in the air.
– Nina Krek
– Photo & Story Source: Advertising Age
