According to ITAR-TASS, all leading modeling agencies in that country intend to revise their HR policies to prevent a recurrence. 'I serve the demands of the market. But at the same time, I will not work with sick people,' declared Eli Hadid, director of the agency Mega Model, to the newspaper Globo. According to him, this will be the professionals' response to a society outraged by the deaths of the girls.
The surge of public indignation that stirred up beauty industry news and forced Hadid's colleagues to take a closer look at the girls under their care followed the deaths of two models, one of whom was already quite well-known in São Paulo. Photomodel Anna Carolina Reston Macan died in the year she came of age – at a height of 174 centimeters, she weighed 40 kilograms. Doctors fought for her life for two weeks, but a whole host of diseases provoked by years of struggling for an 'ideal' figure prevented them from saving the girl. And almost immediately, the death of her peer, also a victim of anorexia nervosa, was reported – Karla Sobrado Casale. Moreover, the two November tragedies in Brazil echoed the August events in Montevideo, where the famous Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos died right on the catwalk.
The girls' deaths clearly demonstrated that the pursuit of beauty is becoming a medical problem extending beyond the world of high fashion. In fact, this slogan was imported into Latin America from Spain, where the socialist government led by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is trying to legislatively influence leading fashion houses and ready-to-wear manufacturers. Administrative pressure and negotiations have already forced some companies to stop using girls with a critical body mass index and who have not been examined by a dietitian in advertising. They were not allowed on the catwalk during the autumn fashion shows in Madrid and London, and plans to refuse the services of overly emaciated models were also made during Milan Fashion Week.
However, such a turn of events naturally did not suit the modeling agencies, which for years had invested money in selecting and training girls according to standards set by famous couturiers. A global overhaul of these templates is unlikely to cause them serious staffing problems, but agency owners admit that some well-known models will find it difficult to meet the new requirements.