The Photoshop Law: Israel's Answer to Skinny Minnie Models

What do models and Harry Houdini have in common? The Great Disappearing Act! Houdini was known to escape and even disappear from water torture chambers, straight jackets hung upside down and coffins buried deep underground. Models are also known for their keen disappearing acts, only theirs is a much more gradual one. However, for both Houdini and runway models, the dissapearing act, is very dangerous.

Beauty standards have increasingly been showing thinner and tinier women than ever before. Not only does it seriously damage the female psyche and give men extremely unrealistic expectations, but it is seriously dangerous for the models as well. There have been countless cases of models collapsing backstage during shows and many of them taking up cigarettes to help curb their appetites. Being anorexic is a serious disorder and a lot of the time it goes unnoticed for the sake of fashion.

(Left) -1950's swimsuit model / (Right) - 2014 runway model

The Israeli fashion industry is fighting back against this anorexic trend. The Israeli government has passed a law, which prohibits models from being on the runway or in print ads unless they have a BMI (Body Mass Index) of at least 18.5. According to that BMI standard, a female model who is 5 feet, 8 inches tall can weigh no less than 119 pounds.

Perhaps, even more crucial, the new Israeli Photoshop Law, places an additional regulation on advertisers requiring clear labeling on ads featuring digitally altered images of models.

Israeli fashion consumers, as well as the general public, will now be properly notified of photoshopped images.

The effects of photoshopping can be absolutely staggering:

Adi Barkan, an Israeli fashion photographer initiated this piece of legislation after his friend, Hila Elmaliah, a model, died of anorexia in 2007, weighing ONLY 60 lbs.

Israel is pioneering new standards in the fashion industry and unlike many of us who's New Year's resolution was to lose a few lbs, models who want to work in the Israeli Fashion industry must pledge to gain a few. The poor souls....