France Passes Law Prohibiting Deceptive Alterations in Model Representations

France Enacts Law Prohibiting Deceptive Adjustments on Model Images

In a bid to encourage brands to move away from promoting unrealistic body standards, France has introduced a new law. This legislation, effective from October 1, requires all photographs in print magazines, online, on posters, in ad campaigns, to be labeled as "photographie retouchée", indicating they have been retouched or edited.

While this new law is considered a small step in promoting healthy body image in the fashion industry, its impact is unclear. The law does not necessarily stop models from feeling the pressure to be unhealthily thin to succeed in the industry.

Two major fashion conglomerates, LVMH and Kering, have recently announced they will no longer hire models younger than 16 or smaller than a U.S. size 2. However, the average American woman is a size 16-18, significantly larger than the models recently hired by these companies. This discrepancy highlights that the new French law does not address the issue of reflecting the body types of consumers.

The label "photographie retouchée" serves as a reminder to consumers that the flawless person in the picture has been seriously manipulated to look that way. Despite this, the fashion industry still has a long way to go in terms of promoting healthy body image and reflecting the body types of its customers.

Small victories, such as the new French law, are seen as baby steps in the right direction towards promoting healthy body image. In the U.S., small changes are also taking place, although the specific companies implementing these changes are not named in the provided search results.

The new French law, while a step, is not considered a big improvement in practice for promoting healthy body image in the fashion industry. The industry as a whole still has a lot of work to do to create a more inclusive and realistic representation of body types.