Chanel Iman Too Skinny? – Fashion model Chanel Iman is the center of a controversial H&M campaign.
The ad which features the 5’9 beauty dressed in a gray sweater and denim jeans has received complaints from Sweden that the supermodel is too thin. The Swedish ombudsman Reklamombudsmannen, a watchdog group for the advertising industry there, determined that the ads send the wrong message to consumers.
The grievance claimed that Chanel is “built like an 11-year-old” and has “thighs as big as a normal woman’s wrists.” The 20-year-old has been modeling professionally since 2006 after winning third place in Ford Model’s Supermodel of the World, subsequently signing with the agency. Chanel strutted down the runway for the first time in the Fall/Winter 2006 season for high-end brands like DKNY, and has gone on to model for many top designers such as; Dolce & Gabbana, Marc Jacobs, Valentino, Michael Kors and Vera Wang among others.
A representative for H&M tells Metro Sweden that they’re sorry for upsetting shoppers and will make a note of Reklamombudsmannen’s criticism. Compared to other countries, Sweden seems to be more sensitive to body image than most. KenyasStyle.com took a poll in December asking readers in the U.S., Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal and Hungary; and Sweden showed the lowest tolerance for super skinny models. 90% of the Swedish surveyed, believe that fashion models are generally too thin.
Here are a few other interesting tidbits from the KenyasStyle.com poll:
– 49% of female readers think that fashion models are too skinny
– 65% of male readers think that fashion models in general look just right
– 67% of female readers say they are more likely to buy from a brand with ad images that feature body types they can relate to
– 46% of male readers consider a model’s body type to be irrelevant to their purchases
how is she any different from the other 24240 skinny models? why are they singling her out?
@Brandi – Because she is actually skinnier than the other skinny models. You can’t tell on the VS commercials because they go by so fast. But if you put her next to a Victoria’s Secret model like Rosie or Adrianna, then you will notice the difference. They also abuse the Photoshop with her but her legs are half the size of most skinny models.
Sometimes people really are this skinny naturally (or so I’ve been told.) That’s okay. It can’t be helped. But why is America so stupid that they’d show these girls off in fancy clothes, as if this is something to be proud of? Because that’s what we’re making many people think.
I think she’s just GORGEOUS (her body that is..) I have the same body type, I have a nicer shape though. Though I hate it when the first thing people say to me is how “skinny” I am, I think being skinny is an amazing thing, just as well as being curvy is an amazing thing. People have to understand that everyone is built differently, there are no better or worse, women are women and we’re absolutely beautiful.
I LOVE women (not gay).
But society is totally confused, just the other day being skinny was the “in thing’, and having a curvy body, big boobs, and a big behind was looked down on.
Now THAT’S what people want? and if you’re skinny you should crawl underneath a rock and die. Tsk tsk.. corrupt society.
She really is too thin, especially for Victoria’s Secret.
She’s beautiful just the way she is. Ok, that’s her nature body size. So what! I’m skinny just like her, well um I have a little more meat on my body. But so what! If she didn’t fit Victoria’s Secret standards then do you think she would be on that runway!?! It’s crazy because first yall have something to say about skinny models in general now yall have something to say about her.
And why does she has to be anorexic because she’s this thin? I hate when people make comments like that. Well she’s the one getting the money at the end of the day. So basically it’s like F**k what you say!:)