The Times revealed on Saturday that they had caught a look at a strongly-worded letter written by Alexandra Shulman, the editor of British Vogue. Shulman’s comments, which she sent to many famous designers, have brought the ever polemic size-zero debate back into the media spotlight. In the letter, the fashion editor expressed her disgust at the size of the latest collections of clothes which were used for the magazine’s fashion shoots. As Shulman pointed out, ever-smaller clothes will inevitably mean using the skinniest models in the industry. Shulman addressed her letter to Prada, Versace, Chanel and other leading high fashion designers.

Despite the fact that the size-zero debate has been widely discussed by the media and the fashion industry over the last few years, particularly when it was made known that some models had actually died from malnutrition, it seems that the situation may have rapidly grown worse. Shulman, in her letter, made it known that she has spent the last decade trying to make models appear larger in photographs. Surely it would be more advisable to book healthier looking models as this would set a better example for the public and send a message to models and women alike that thin is not in. This might even begin to put an end to the rising problems of anorexia and bulimia.

Shulman, in her letter to the designers, accused them of hiring models with “jutting bones and no breasts or hips”. It becomes ridiculous when models that are already slim do not fit into clothes made for photo shoots. It appears that even the likes of seasoned models such as Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista would fail to fit into these new sample sizes.

The problem is perhaps more complicated however, as some designers call the size-zero situation a ‘vicious cycle’. We have reached a stage where size-zero models have become the norm, rather than the exception. The emaciated look has been widely displayed on international catwalks and as a result super slim models are now making the covers of  leading fashion magazines. Perhaps this pattern needs an influential speaker such as Shulman to break the cycle of too-slim models. When fashion bible Vogue is forced to digitally enhance photographs to make models appear larger, surely that is when we must realise that the issue has gotten out of hand.