Photoshopped Ralph Lauren Model Fired For Being "Too Fat"
The Ralph Lauren model whose photo was air-brushed to make her look super-skinny has been fired from the company -- allegedly for being too fat.
Last week the ad, which was only supposed to be seen only in Japan, made its way around the Internet. The model had a waist that was impossibly skinny, and her arms and legs were extremely thin as well. People were outraged at the sickly and unrealistic look.
So was the model, 23-year-old Filippa Hamilton. "I was shocked to see that super skinny girl with my face," she told the New York Daily News. "It's very sad, I think, that Ralph Lauren could do something like that."
But that's not all Ralph Lauren did to her. She told the News the company fired her. "They fired me because they said I was overweight and I couldn't fit in their clothes anymore," she said. At 5'10'', 120 pounds, Hamilton really wouldn't fit anyone's description as "overweight."
Hamilton said she's worked for Ralph Lauren since around 2002, and considered the company a second family.
Polo Ralph Lauren said in a statement that Hamilton is a "beautiful and healthy" woman but their relationship ended "as a result of her inability to meet the obligations under her contract with us."
The company also took reponsibility for the skinny ad:
"The image in question was mistakenly released and used in a department store in Japan and was not the approved image which ran in the U.S. We take full responsibility. This error has absolutely no connection to our relationship with Filippa Hamilton."
Hamilton's lawyer, Geoffrey Menin, said the image is "gross distortion of how she really looks and which we fear will be extremely damaging to her."
Hamilton is concerned about its impact on the public. "I think they owe American women an apology, a big apology," she said. "I'm very proud of what I look like, and I think a role model should look healthy."
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Obviously she's extremely skinny, just eyeballing it she's probably around a medium frame (assuming they left the proportions correct when they photoshopped it) which means she's already 22 pounds underweight, at a minimum. I was a bit confused at first since that would seem fine in American or Europe. Granted, I don't know a thing about modeling or proportions or what weight most models are, but I'm just eyeballing it from ad campaigns I've seen - then I read this:
"Last week the ad, which was only supposed to be seen only in Japan, made its way around the Internet."
Japan is the key here. I went to Japan with my girlfriend to visit a really good friend of hers who moved backed with his family (basically, I wanted an excuse to go to Japan). And many of the less than 30 year old women were ridiculously skinny (and it's much creepier-looking to be so underweight when you are short .... for some reason), basically the equivalent of what this model in the ad look liked (except shorter, obviously). I actually looked it up after I came back in studies to confirm if my perception were correct, and indeed I was. Young Japanese girls in urban areas are ridiculously thin.
I'd argue Ralph Lauren is attempting to appeal to that population - his buyers who don't want to see a girl heavier then they are under any circumstances and many of them are actually that skinny, and a decent minority chunk of whom are actually skinnier than her by a substantial amount.
PS: Just as a funny side note to further illustrate my point. When we went to Japan and met up with her friend and we encountered his sister (17 years old), she suggested my girlfriend go on a diet ... she later told me she wears a size 2 =/
5'10", 120lbs.....yeah, I'd LOVE to be that "fat"
So, I guess Ralph's just really into that "death camp" look, or was it "heroin chic"? I can never remember. "Fashion" has always confused me.
Vegan.
The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'.
I just want to give her a sandwich....
That is literally sickening! If a beautiful woman that tall (5'10") is considered overweight at 120 lbs. I must be considered morbidly obese (5'4" 118) I just wish companies would realize that to a lot of people, that poster is a major turn-OFF. I think that looks like some sickly person who should stay in a hospital.
Frostidew, you're correct. Most people don't find women that skinny to be attractive, but if it sells the clothes whatcha gonna do?
Solar is also correct. A contract is a contract. And when you get into that biz you know exactly what you're getting into. All of us who have signed an employment contract know that we can be fired for breaching any one of the terms. In some states you can be fired for no reason, which I believe is also OK.
True. A contract is a contract. It's still gross. :) I do agree though, what did she expect if she gained a pound and ate an extra cracker.
Still, protection of the employee... It's unhealthy and minorly discrimtory. I wish I could say "No more fake stuff" But I can't. :( Sad really.
If the contract stated that 5'10"-120lbs. is too much weight :height, then she breached her contract.
It makes no difference if we think it is too fat, fat, skinny, or too skinny. What matters are the details of the contract. Plain and simple.
The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'.
If her contract had a provision of a certain height to weight ratio and she breached that then she is being fired for a Breach of Contract, not for being too fat. In which case this whole thing is a sensationalist joke.
Seems pretty simple once the hyperbole is removed.
The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'.