The Skinny on Gemma

I would like to start out by saying thank you to Nora for sending me this article about my fave Gemma Ward, from the NYPost.com's Page Six Magazine with the headline "Gemma Ward, a Supermodel Betrayed." It's a great read for all Gemma fans, aspiring models, and especially female models over the age of 17. Basically this article talks about Gemma Wards rise to model stardom, and her current choice to gain healthy weight. Why not model for a few years, gain extreme success (and money), and then live a great life (with junk food included). Everyone that has ever tried to model has felt the pressure to be thin, and most likely paid the price to live at an unhealthy weight.  

 (My Favorite Vogue Cover! With all my girls - Giselle, Natalia, and Gemma)

"Baby-faced beauty Gemma Ward was the hottest model in the world. But now that she's grown up and gained 30 pounds, fashion insiders say she's "over." Even though the industry claims it's embracing larger women, her story proves it's all a big fat lie."

There are a couple sections in this article that I found to be very important, that also hit home for me. The first: "In 2008, model Coco Rocha said that when she weighed as little as 108 pounds at 5' 10", she was told, "You need to lose more weight," and that she even took diuretics. "The look this year is anorexic," Rocha recalled hearing. "We don't want you to be anorexic, we just want you to look it," they reasoned." This statement is scary. I don't know many young girls (or anyone for that matter) that you could say this to that would not instantly run to kroger to buy apples, lettuce, and bottled water. These standards are extreme and unattainable for most. However, those that are determined and blessed with great genetics can sometimes make it (at least until they turn 20 and start to gain weight). My friend Stephanie S. (a NY model) jokes that soon the industry will start using 11 yr olds for the runway, because none of the older models will be thin enough. I would love for some of my model friends (if you are reading this) to chime in and add your own comments. I know a lot of you have been there (or are working in the industry today), and it would be great for some of the younger girls to hear first hand what its like.

 (Great shot!)

Another section of the article says "A year later, in fall 2007, the speculation over her size had turned into a steady drone. Says one fashion editor who attended Paris fashion week in October of that year, "Gemma was only walking in a handful of shows—Lagerfeld Gallery, maybe Valentino. I initially thought, 'She doesn't have to do them, she's making so much money in the big campaigns,' until I saw her on the [Chanel] runway… I almost didn't recognize her," says the editor, who confesses she was aghast. Compared to the other ultraskinny models, Ward looked as if she had gained 10 to 15 pounds, "big, almost bloated."I just wanted to point out that at this "bloated" size Gemma was probably still a size 0 or maybe a 2. I try to explain to my classes all the time that in the fashion industry size standards are extreme and completely unrealistic for "normal" life. Right now I am 5' 10" and 127lbs, and if I were to model again I would need to be down to 118lbs (which for me would be completely unhealthy). The last time I was that thing (115lbs) I was 15 or 16, at 24 it doesn't usually happen. The crazy thing is...for these supermodels - it does. They are well into their 20's still weighing 115, 118, 120 at heights of 5'9 and 5'10.

I can completely relate to this article, and I think it sums up the modeling industry to the T. I remember back when I started modeling. I was 15 or 16 when I was signed with Ford in NY. I was super thin, tall, and lanky. However, even then I was constantly being measured to make sure that my hips were not too big. I wish I could remember my exact measurements. I'm guessing that I was 35" in the hips, because I was always being coxed into "tightening up." I will say that even though they wanted me to lose weight, my agent Susan Q. at Ford was great about telling me to tighten up rather than starve myself down. The only problem is that when you tell a 15 year old girl to lose inches..fast...she will starve herself. In the mind of a 15 year old model (at least for me) it seemed to be the only option.

 

I just want to say that I am in no way judging the fashion industry. I have been emersed in it for way to long. I've studied it, read about it, spent hours clipping images from magazines, and months brainstorming ideas and working on painitng in college that could somehow share my views and feelings about what happened to me (and how the fashion world chewed me up and spit me out). In my opinion things will never really change, there may be fluxuations and trends in size, but for the most part the old saying is true: "You can never be too rich or too thin."

In summary, I don't care how much weight Gemma gains. I love her & I hope that she doesn't disappear. Hopefully she works on a few movies as she said she will. Good luck Girl!