A photoshopped Ralph Lauren model fired for being overweight only weighed 120lbs! Remember her - the sickly photoshopped Ralph Lauren model whose ad got the public fired up?
This is one of those stories that only cements my opinion about much of the fashion industry. First off, Filippa Hamilton could probably use a cheeseburger as it is. No, make that two cheeseburgers and about a dozen deep-fried Oreos. I mean she’s already super-thin, but apparently she’s not emaciated looking enough for Ralph Lauren because she was let go!
Hamilton did an ad for them that was used in Japan, and boy did they butcher her image. In the retouched ad, she looks like Olive Oil on Atkins. After seeing the ad she was blown away, telling the New York Daily News:
“I was shocked to see that super skinny girl with my face.”
The company even felt compelled to apologize for it, saying:
“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.”
Mistakenly released? So, what they accidentally spent time digitally altering it and printing it?
Anyway, now the model is being smacked with the irony stick—and we’re talking a good lickin’. According to her, Ralph Lauren sent her packing because she is “overweight.” She is 5’10”, which means a healthy weight for her would be around 132-145lbs—she only weighs 120! The company says she no longer models for them “as a result of her inability to meet the obligations under her contract with us.”
It has almost become cliché to rail against the fashion industry’s impossible standards, but this example is too glaring. It seems the United States has two problems that feed off of each other (pardon the pun): unrealistic expectations for women AND a major increase in the number of young women and girls with eating disorders.
We all know that anorexia nervosa and bulimia are not to be taken lightly; they can ruin lives, and even lead to death. Something has to be done about the image that’s being perpetuated through Hollywood and the modeling industry—it’s just plain unhealthy.
Check out a video about the photoshopped Ralph Lauren model fired for being too “fat,” and give us your opinion on the matter below.
October 15th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
I am so disgusted to see super thin models, it seems as if the rest of “normal” female population does not exist. Get with the program, there are all sizes and shapes, not just twigs with clothing draped over bones.
October 15th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
I think it’s a form of misogyny. 5′10″ tall and 120 lbs is not ‘too fat.’ Ralph Lauren himself doesn’t fit his own contemptible standards. I certainly will never buy another RL item again.
October 15th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
that it just sick.The poor girl is already way too thin and thats not good enough for Ralph Lauren? give me a break.you want thin?,next time get a skeleton to do your modeling for your crappy clothing line!!!!!!!
October 15th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
If they in fact did fire her for being over
weight…I don’t understand. I wonder if it
was for other reasons. She is beautiful and
fits the Ralph Lauren profile obviously,
since she has been with them for so long.
Perhaps they just want a new face. Modeling is a very cruel world.
October 15th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
I don’t think I want to purchase anything more from Ralph Lauren because of their morals. I don’t agree that what they did was fair.
Not only is this girl pretty, she seems very sweet. Shame on you, you nerdy label.. Sorry Katie!!
October 15th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
It is a shame that RL feels that women must be portrayed as stick figures. The women that buy the clothing line have real bodies and are not that thin. The only females with bodies that small are children before puberty and they can not afford the RL label! Wake up people.
October 15th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Stop buying Ralph Lauren products. Period. No Argument, No Posturing, No “Statements.” Just stop.