Livia Turco
© AFP/FileROME (AFP) - The "manifesto" prepared by the Italian National Chamber of Fashion, Alta Moda and the government "promotes a healthy way of life, a vital way of life," Health Minister Livia Turco told a news conference.
Models with a body mass index less than the recommended limit of 18 -- that of a person six feet (1.83 meters) tall and weighing 135 pounds (61 kilograms), for example -- will be banned from modelling, as well as anyone under age 16.
The initiative to encourage "a healthy, sunny, generous, Mediterranean" look follows the death from anorexia last month of 21-year-old Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston, who was five foot eight and weighed 88 pounds.
Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos died of heart failure in August.
"We pledge to protect the health of the models who pose on our catwalks," the manifesto reads, adding that those showing "evidence of an eating disorder" will be barred.
A model displays a creation by Russian designer Larissa Pogoretskaya
© AFP/File Filippo MonteforteDesigners will also commit to making their collections available in bigger sizes so that they are not reserved exclusively for the very thin, Youth Policy and Sports Minister Giovanna Melandri told the news conference, adding that she was confident the code would be adopted by other countries.
Mario Boselli, head of the Italian National Chamber of Fashion, said he planned to meet with other industry leaders in Paris on January 24 to "make it a worldwide document" and press for international certification of models' health.
"Only with a worldwide commitment can we realize the goal" of fighting anorexia, he said.
The agreement follows similar measures in Spain, where several models were prevented from appearing in a Madrid fashion show in September under a regional law aimed at fighting anorexia, after they measured below the index limit.
The new regulations will be enforced at the major fashion shows in Rome next month and in Milan in January.
©AFP