THE
EVOLUTION
OF BEAUTY
words by Courtney Michelle
illustration by Hiroyuki Kikuchi
Over the past twenty years, runway and fashion models have been
deemed unhealthy because of their image, with critics recently coining
the phrase “heroine chic” to describe fashion muses.
But there’s been a shift among today’s top models:
Kate Upton has a famous size 34D rack, Joan
Smalls is ranked #1 on Models.com and the first
Latina to score an Estee Lauder campaign, and
Kate Moss graces the cover of Playboy for their
60th Anniversary Issue, sans nipple exposure.
The fashion industry is definitely experiencing a
modification, which inadvertently changes how
the world perceives everything. In turn, has our
view of what is beautiful in society changed, are
we starting to see an evolution?
While I’m ready to throw up my feminism fist
for Kate Moss’s classic and tasteful Playboy cover,
Moss was reportedly on an all-liquid diet leading
up to her shoot. She’s been quoted, “nothing tastes
as good as skinny feels.” As adults, we flip through
fashion magazines for inspiration, feeling pressure
to appear identical. And it’s no secret that young
women look to the runways for role models. But
what examples are being set, as far as a healthy
image is concerned?
“Young girls aspire to look like the catwalk
models,” says former British Culture Secretary
Tessa Jowell during London Fashion Week 2006.
“When those girls are unhealthily underweight, it
pressurizes girls to look the same.”
That same year, a trend of super young,
i