Italian fashion capital Milan has formally banned underweight and under-age models from its February catwalk shows.

From now on, models under 16 and those with a body mass index of less than 18.5 are banned from Milan's shows. Which means that a model with height 1.73 m (5 foot 8 inch) who weighs less than 55.4 kg (122 lb) would be banned from walking Milan runways.

Canadian hottest modelling export Daria Werbowy (photo) might be banned from participating in such shows as Dolce&Gabbana and Versace - both fashion empires stage their shows in Milan. With her 6'0" (180 cm) height Daria should weight whopping 140 lbs (nearly 64 kg) to be admitted to Milan Fashion Week.

 

Let's hope Italian fashion bosses know what they are doing. Either key Italian fashion houses flee Milan in favour of less restricting London, New York and Paris, or world's top fashion media will pay less attention to Milan week because top models help sell clothes, and there's no way around it.

Milan city also called for a variety of clothing sizes in shows, Reuters reported. "The agreement is the result of a common effort ... to share and to communicate to our young people the importance of positive models of living," Milan mayor Letizia Moratti said in a statement.

Which is really weird. While 60 per cent of women are officially overweight why blame models for being bad role models? Indeed, models are bad role models. Skinny and beautiful, they are still unable to stop women from packing pounds.

The whole situation leaves me wondering: Why fashion capitals (not the major ones, but still...) point the finger at models instead of promoting healthy eating habits and focusing on negative effects of obesity and overeating on womens' health?

Spain banned skinny models below a certain weight from Madrid's shows in September. This month Brazil launched a campaign to ban underage models as well as severely underweight models from shows after a Brazilian model died from complications due to anorexia.

Some people don't know when to start eating - while most women simply don't know when to stop.

Julie Gabriel (BMI 19 :-))), with additional files from Reuters.  

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