Open your eyes.

I have written on what might be deemed as ‘ethical fashion’ before. Most namely, my entry for Modeconnect’s International Fashion Writing Competition, named 'Abercrombie and Fitch: the Pride and Prejudice retail giant', in which I won second place, discussed Abercrombie and Fitch’s poor conduct when it came to incinerating their unwanted stock, rather than giving it away to homeless people. 

A sly dig at A&C was fun. Incidentally, I despise their clothing line nonetheless – preppy just isn’t me.

What I want to now turn your attention to something that’s far closer to home for me. Something that’s often brought up but discussed at arm’s length, perhaps, for fear of opening a Pandora’s box of generic complaints about how 'terrible society is these days'. Hopefully, what I can provide are specified examples to emphasise my passion for the subject you are about to read.

Do you remember when Urban Outfitters brought out a t-shirt that said “Eat Less” in 2010? The company was absolutely shamed for it in the media - they were forced to withdraw in June that year. When I read about it, I felt absolutely disgusted with Urban. It was absolutely and irrevocably irresponsible of them, and in my opinion, totally inexcusable. According to a business site, the highest percentage of Urban Outfitter consumers were fourteen to fifteen year olds back in 2010. Since then, their market has ‘grown up’ a little. What that therefore meant was millions of fourteen to fifteen year olds were being subjected to a two word slogan that perfectly exposed and made example of the sense of of self-doubt and imperfection – no matter how small or insignificant it may have been beforehand, for many of their customers buying the product. A slogan that had its lettering printed and fused onto a t-shirt in this way may as well have burned right into the soul.

(Isn’t it funny how pubescent teenagers will compare their imperfect body to the advertising campaigns of models spread across the Daily Mail? Editing and photoshopping is a wonderful, powerful tool created by humans through technology. One highly edited photo of a supermodel will undoubtedly destroy countless self-esteems: the embodiment of your peers at school who were always thinner than you, your mum raising eyebrows and asking if you were ‘really going to eat that’. Photoshop is our own construction over hundreds of years of progress, and aren’t we so proud the results?)

This is why I was so angry at Urban Outfitters for unquestionably helping to diminish any vulnerable teenager’s sense of self worth through this. These are the peak years in which your sense of image is being built up, and to shatter them by commanding you to ‘eat less’ is a true abhorrence, and the media were absolutely write to slate them for it. It is one thing to think upon these words in varying waves of insecurity, but to have them printed across your chest seems as if it’s touching on something far, far more sinister – and it is not the first time Urban have produced controversial statements like this, leading me to believe they knew exactly what they were doing when the design team sat down one day and said ‘lets make a t-shirt saying this on it’.

Of course, this was five years ago now. But I strongly feel it was but a precursor to something more recent that I stumbled upon in Topshop and was flagged up through Instagram, and quickly became viral. Allegedley, the mannequins in Topshop are a size 8. Easily checkable, this one.  So how is it possible that one Instagram user who is also a size 8 could possibly stand next to a Topshop mannequin and look three times as wide? Topshop were actually incredibly sneaky here. They made their mannequins ‘longer’, if you will, meaning that if you stood adjacently to the mannequin, you would realize that from the side they are much fuller than if you were to stand directly in front of them. The clothes that fit them are a size 8, but they look very very thin because of this unnatural stretching from the side. A familiar rage rose inside me when I saw this.

It is so important that the media continues to tear apart these irresponsible high street retailers. I encourage and aim to promote and nurture ‘responsible fashion’. Earlier this year, France actually banned superskinny models from the catwalk. The Guardian says: ‘Agencies who use models whose BMIs fall below the stipulated figure will face a fine of €75,000 (£55,000) and staff face up to six months in prison. Failure to state when photos have been retouched will incur a fine of €37,500 or up to 30% of the amount spent on the advertising featuring the model.’ When I read those words, I was elated beyond belief. France, whose much-loved Paris is considered the fashion capital of the world, has made a major move that will see a steady reduction in eating disorders in young women  - and men too, for that matter.

There is a terrible, hungry, aching gap in between the touched up models of multi million pound campaigns and the fourteen year old girl who longs to look like her, staring up from the pavement. Eating disorders are terrible, terrible diseases to suffer. To only be passionate about your strive to be absolutely perfect; relishing in your control; starving your mind, body and soul to strive for something unstriveable, is something that many of us can only imagine, and sadly some of us will suffer.  Anorexia has only really existed for the last thirty years or so, and its deadly poison is spreading unless more governments continue to take action as France has done. It is a hideously lonely, desperate, harrowing mental disease that I have seen happen around me since I was fourteen myself. 

When I was growing up, my mother always told me I was beautiful, and I am grateful for it now.  Soon, the children of the generation non-superskinny in France will welcome these influences, and will also be grateful for them. The rest of the world needs to follow in their footsteps, and shape up, literally.