Karl Lagerfeld Defends Skinny Models - 'No One Wants to See Round Women'

by Katie Hintz-Zambrano (Subscribe to Katie Hintz-Zambrano's posts)
Posted Oct 12th 2009 at 2:55PM

Karl Lagerfeld looking a little wide himself -- in the tie and collar area. Photo: Pascal Le Segretain, Getty images

Karl Lagerfeld, who famously dropped 92 lbs in 13 months in order to squeeze into skinny Dior Homme duds -- and wrote the book, "The Karl Lagerfeld Diet," about it -- is defending the waifs who march down his runways, and calling out the "fat mummies" who complain about them, according to The Guardian.

Lagerfeld was interviewed by the German magazine Focus, during which the designer responded to the announcement of best-selling German magazine, Brigitte's commitment to using "ordinary, realistic" women instead of professional models in future fashion spreads, the U.K. newspaper reports.

Lagerfeld, speaking in German, his native tongue, told Focus that Brigitte's plan was "absurd," and that the women complaining about too-skinny models were just fat and jealous.

"These are fat mummies sitting with their bags of crisps in front of the television, saying that thin models are ugly," the Chanel designer tells Focus, going on to say that the fashion industry supports "dreams and illusions, and no one wants to see round women."

According to The Guardian, he also tries to dispel the myth that skinny models have eating disorders.

"It's just as much a cliché as saying that all models take drugs and get drunk at sex orgies," he says. "Ninety percent of them are quite normal, properly proportioned girls with less fat and more muscles, who also eat pizzas and burgers."

Brigitte's editor, Andreas Lebert, sees things differently. On October 5th, he told The Guardian that after years of "fattening up" too-thin models through Photoshop, starting on January 2nd, the magazine will start working with real women only.

"Today's models weigh around 23% less than normal women," Lebert told the paper. "The whole model industry is anorexic. We will show women who have their own identity, the 18-year-old A-level student, the company chairwoman, the musician, the footballer."

Of course, all of this comes on the heels of Ralph Lauren's emaciated ad and, at the opposite extreme, Glamour'scommitment to showing plus-size models and women of more diverse sizes.

So, how do you weigh in on the model controversy? Is Lagerfeld right to defend his runway rails or are Brigitte and Glamour taking steps in the right direction?

Leave a comment below!

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Filed under: News
Tags: fat, german magazine, GermanMagazine, glamour plus-size models, GlamourPlus-sizeModels, karl lagerfeld, KarlLagerfeld, model controversy, ModelControversy, photoshop, plus size models, PlusSizeModels, real women, RealWomen, skinny models, SkinnyModels

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READER COMMENTS

(386)Add A Comment

"b", 10-12-2009, 8:19PM

this idiot just got lucky in life and probably has never got his precious little hands dirty. i myself like a little meat on women

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pinkthenred, 10-12-2009, 8:27PM

Jealous and fat just because I don't prefer a body type other than what Karl Langerfield finds to be attractive? What this really boils down to is an arrogant man making an arrogant statement. Whoop dee doo, like that has never happened before :)~.

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Jerry, 10-12-2009, 8:30PM

Why don't fat women open up their own fashoin show? They do not because even they don't want to see fat women walking up and down the aisle.

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sadiemae1214, 10-12-2009, 8:41PM

Got news for you Jerry, Large size women are now walking the runways and even doing nude photo layouts. They have NO SELF ESTEEM problems and their men love them. Maybe all you've dated is anorexic bimbos with boney butts and no brains.

john, 10-12-2009, 8:47PM

Jerry what an empty headed ass you are! What passes for beauty nowadays, bones, tattooed titties and piercings don't interest a real man. Someone like you always prefers bony women because their built like boys. Keep it real jer.

LGC, 10-13-2009, 9:45AM

You're a pig and probably single.

Tammy, 10-13-2009, 10:01AM

Jerry, I hate to tell you this sweetie (actually, no I don't) but 'big girls' do everything the skinny ones do. I am a 'big girl' and I have been approached to model for several companies. So the reason behind my personal dislike for the waif look has nothing to do with wanting to be like them. My concern is my daughters will become swept up in the 'glamour' of it and want to become these girls. There isn't anything wrong with being thin, however, everyone is built differently and some people (like my girls) have to make themselves sick to look that way. It can cause a bad body image for girls who don't look rail thin.

I am proud of my curves, my husband loves them and I wouldn't want to look any different.

Heather, 10-13-2009, 10:52AM

Normal weight models (to you, fat women) do have runway shows. Why is it assumed they don't? And normal is still thin. A size 10 is average. When the models top out at 6'......a size 10 is small. Trust me, I'm 6' 2" and wear a size 8 at the moment.....I could stand to gain some weight. To me, plus size would be just that, plus size, size 14 and up, and the model being of varying heights. 6' is not the norm. About 5' 8" is.

Enough ranting. I just wanted to say that plus sizes do get their time on the runway. Maybe not as much as they deserve, but they get it.

flirtydiva, 3-13-2010, 2:48PM

You are an ass!!! I use to model when I was younger and I weighted 102 at the age of 18, and had no confidence at all, now that I'm older 35 and weight 165 pounds and stand 5'11, I have sooooo much confidence. am I fat to you??? It's not whats on the outside that counts it's the entire package. Grow up!!!!!!

mark, 3-13-2010, 3:06PM

tammy, you are proving jerry's point. your girls make themselves sick because they dont want to look like you. at all. giving excuses as to why you are over-weight is more pathetic than the picture of the dude who made the comments. the 'big girls' aka fatties cant do what the skinny ones do. and the last time i checked you weren't being approached to model for anything well-known except lane bryant or the biggest loser. there is a reason why that show has a double meaning. you. are. a. loser. there's nothing wrong with being fat, just dont cry about it or start being that annoying fat girl at parties that everyone hates because she opens her fat mouth. what a hypocracy. the skinny people rip on the fat people for being fat and ugly. then the fat people bag on the skinny models for their 'looks' while claiming the victim.

Piper, 2-08-2012, 2:08PM

It's called plusmodelmagazine. Check it out because you don't speak for all fat women.

dconn4, 10-13-2009, 9:50AM

Nobody wants to see ugly,gay men modeling either-but that hasn't stopped you.

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lunatune, 10-12-2009, 8:37PM

Look at the man!! Who, regardless of size, could care about anything he says?!

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Lotte, 10-12-2009, 10:37PM

THANK YOU! This is one extremely hideous looking man...wait, is he a man? Frankly, I would run screaming into the night if I saw this freak in a dark alley! Who CARES what these people think? Not the REAL women out here!

And REAL men are men like "b" and John! Thank you gentleman!

Hope, 10-14-2009, 12:47PM

haha you're one of the few people actually talking sense on this thing! :)
thankyouuuuuu

Marie, 3-13-2010, 2:42AM

LOL

punkycolour, 10-12-2009, 8:48PM

Coco Chanel broke down barriers in order to liberate women in the fashion world. She must be rolling over in her grave...

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Debi Drecksler, 10-13-2009, 4:42PM

I just posted a column 10/12/09 at www.debidrecksler.com called Beautiful At Any Size.

I do not agree with Karl Lagerfeld!!

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KadyL, 10-13-2009, 7:22AM

I am most definitely in agreement that women are beautiful no matter what size they are, however, there comes a point when being too over weight is unhealthy. Having too much body fat can lead to many problems with your heart, joints and other vital parts as well.
Do I think that women should be required to look anorexic to model? No, absolutely not. I think that it gives bad images to "regular" women/girls. But, I also think that people need to stop bashing the women who model... maybe they really do have a problem with their bodies.
Growing up I was always very thin, and I had kids in school make fun of me all the time, asking if I was anorexic. Out of school, I had adults telling me to eat more, that I should fatten up. It has taken YEARS for me to gain a higher level of comfort with my own body.
It's just not fair to have a double standard like this. As a very skinny woman it is not socially acceptable for me to go up to a fat women and say "you're too fat", so why is it acceptable for someone to come up to me and say "you're too skinny"?

Pedro, 10-13-2009, 4:23PM

I believe there is a deeper problem with many of today's fashion designers in general: They couldn't care less about women... They only care about their "art". The fact that women have to wear their creations is bothersome to them... They hate curves that tug and push their fabulous fabrics out of place. Their ideal woman is a stick figure: nothing that takes precedence over their creation. In earlier times, couture was about making women look beautiful... now, these stick women are there to let the dress look beautiful, like glorified hangers.
Having a woman's body carry their "art" is a nuisance for these people, so the more insignificant the woman, the better... Notice also the make-up models are wearing: usually they look like corpses... They are symbolically "killing" the woman, so only their creation remains.
I know this sounds somewhat academic, but to me it makes sense... Before, women were the stars; now the star is the design, and hence, the designer...
When Lagerfeld says "no one wants to see fat women," he actually means "none of us (designers) want to see their beautiful designs marred by women's bodies"