Photoshoots, runways, fashion events around the world… The Fashion Industry sells a lot of ideas to the public: luxury, exclusive items of clothing, and even ideas of greatness. However, the dreams that are sold do not correlate with the lives of the models that sell them. From diet pills to mental health issues to actual assault, the fashion industry is anything far from a dream.
A modeling career can appear to be one of the most glamorous roots a person can pursue. However, the ‘expected’ career life of a model is around five years. There are various reasons why the career life is so small, the main one being that most of the models drop out of the runaway and photoshoots because they can’t take the toxic environment anymore.
A Fashion Model’s Reality
In 2021 the ex Victoria Secret’s angel Erin Heathetorn was a guest star on two episodes on the new documentary podcast, Fallen Angel, which exposes many secrets from one of the biggest lingerie stores in the world – including the iconic runaway and photoshoots. Heathetorn became an angel in 2008 and left in 2013. The model told the podcast that the industry messed with her mental health and self-image.
She then proceeded to tell how much everything became worse once she turned 25. She felt pushed to do something about her gaining weight. Even though she knew her body would not behave the same way as when she was 18 years old. Heathetorn said that the company sent her to a celebrity nutritionist that prescribed a drug for her to lose weight.
“[The nutritionist] started me on this diet pill called phentermine, which my therapist later called ‘bathwater meth.'”
Unfortunately, it didn’t stop there. She proceeded to get hormonal shots that pregnant women produce, called HCG. She has now become an advocate and is open to speaking with anyone who’s struggling with body issues.
Science X The Fashion Industry
Having a harder time losing weight as you get older is a scientifically proven fact: our bodies do not respond the same way to weight loss efforts. This is due to numerous factors: loss of lean muscle, slower metabolism, hormonal changes that come with getting older, and evens stress can be an important factor. So, what Heathetorn was experiencing, on a minor scale due to her only getting older a few years, is a human condition. The industry does not comport the human body’s natural behavior.
Discussing the toxicity of the industry is something still very new. In 2015 Cara DeLevigne shocked everyone when she announced she was quitting her modeling career, which she started at the age of 10. She was 16 when she left school and got signed at her first agency. She started discussions regarding her depression, anxiety, and her sexuality, repressed in the industry. Also, she started to shed light on a huge problem the models have to face: sexual harassment.
“I think you get that [sexual harassment] in every industry. I don’t think it’s just modelling, although I think it’s worse in modelling. There are male photographers who go into it purely because of the girls. But in every industry, if you are pretty, or someone likes the look of you ….it’s not good.”
There have been a few changes regarding how models are treated. From Vogue doing an interview asking models from around the world how they feel about these issues to models being able to speak up and not being completely shut down in the industry, the improvement is inspiring – yet slow. Professionals developing depression and other mental health-related diseases to try to do their job is completely unacceptable. This change needs to come faster for new generations of models to have an inclusive environment to work in.
