Fashion industry ‘should be concerned’ by return to skinny models, Vogue boss Chioma Nnadi says
British Vogue’s editorial director says the fashion industry “should be concerned” about the return to thinner models.
Chioma Nnadi says the change comes amid recent advances in body diversity, driven in part by the popularity of weight-loss drugs.
“I do think maybe Ozempic has something to do with it,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“We’re at this point where we’re seeing the pendulum swing back towards ‘fad’ slimming fads, and these things tend to be seen as a trend, and we don’t want them to be.”
When asked by presenter Emma Barnett what was driving the trend, Nardi said: “I don’t think we can blame it on any one thing.
“I do think Ozempic has something to do with that because we see a lot of celebrities using it, and I think there’s a cultural shift around how we view our bodies and how we treat our bodies.”
Nnadi said she believes it’s important for the fashion industry “to have everyone represented,” adding that it’s an issue she and her colleagues are aware of.
“It’s important to think about the models we can use in the (photo) shoot,” she continues. “Very importantly, we included models with non-sample sizes.
“But I don’t think it’s something that we as a magazine can change on our own because obviously designers are making clothes in sample sizes.”
Speaking about last season’s fashion week, where designers showed off their new collections, Nardi said: “I think there wasn’t enough representation when it came to body diversity.
“In some fashion shows, it feels like the models are very thin.
“Hopefully this season will be a wake-up call for us and we won’t see that negative trend and we won’t see that improvement.”
Nnadi took over as editor-in-chief of British Vogue last October, replacing the magazine’s former editor Edward Enninful.
When she joined, the job title was changed to director of editorial content, but Nadi ultimately remained the most senior person at the magazine.
The appetite-suppressing drug Ozempic has become popular in the United States in recent years, and its use is increasing in the United Kingdom.
