Israel passes law banning use of underweight models
Posted by Anthony on 21 March 2025
The Israeli government has passed a law banning the use of underweight models in advertising and on the catwalk.
The new law requires models to provide medical proof of their weight, and for adverts to state if an image has been altered to make a model appear thinner:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17450275
Our Founder, Karine Berthou had this to say:
“I think it is very important to applaud the Israeli Government for first recognising that fashion media industries are influential and that it is appropriate for governments to be taking action. At heart this means that the government appreciates that body image and eating disorders are serious and warrant attention. Very few governments around the world are anywhere near this point. To take legislative action is also likely to be more effective than the voluntary codes put forward by a number of governments and certainly requires more resolve.
Although images will still be able to be manipulated to make them thinner to have this fact stated clearly on relevant images could potentially have an important media literacy role and help raise awareness of the fantasy created by digital manipulation!”