Karen Elson, the British supermodel and former Vogue cover star, criticized designers for using 'skeletal' models on the New York Fashion Week catwalks, saying the sight made her 'want to cry'. The 46-year-old, who rose to prominence alongside Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell, said she was heartbroken by how thin some models appeared, noting that one had reportedly lost her period due to extreme dieting.
Elson wrote on Substack that at one NYFW show she spoke to a model who was told she was 'too big' to book jobs this season. The model, described as a 'statuesque wisp of a girl', told Elson that she was being measured against a body type that left no room for softness. 'Don't those saying such things realise how hateful and destructive those words are, not only to the individual hearing them, but to society at large?' Elson recalled, adding that the experience underscored the way words shape expectations in the industry. She said she was horrified when the same model admitted she had not had her period for six months due to extreme dieting.
Elson, who has two children with her ex-husband, The White Stripes frontman Jack White, and is now married to music studio boss Lee Foster, said she had body image issues early in her career and struggled with body dysmorphia. 'Modeling was my one-way ticket out of a hopeless situation,' she wrote, explaining that she was made to feel guilty if she didn't look hungry. 'Looking back, it's sickening to realise how my livelihood was tied to how thin I was, and yet, that's still the reality for so many young models today.'
She insisted that models themselves are not to blame, but the industry that 'pulls the strings' and demands impossible proportions. 'People often blame models for promoting unhealthy body types, but in truth it's the industry pulling the strings,' she wrote. 'Designers have a preferred body type, but very few women naturally fit those proportions, aside from teenage girls or those who go hungry.'
Elson argued fashion should 'value the human wearing the clothes beyond her silhouette' and questioned why only those with the 'supermodel' label are allowed to be themselves. 'Would it really be catastrophic for the industry to size samples a little bigger? How can fashion be inspirational when it presents clothes on women who feel they must go hungry to fit them?'
She said she was not seeking to point fingers but to ignite a conversation about the pressures within fashion. 'It's an important debate, because there is a collective blindness in my industry to recognise that this is a problem.' Her comments come as the industry faces renewed concerns about model health as ultra-thin physiques again dominate runways, even as brands pledge body-positivity initiatives. Elson, who now combines modelling with singing and activism, has long spoken about the costs of the industry's demand for extreme body types, urging a shift toward more inclusive representations of beauty.