A disturbing photograph of a naked anorexic woman, blown up to traffic-stopping scale, has been drawing shocked gasps from passing Milanese. The photograph of 27-year-old Frenchwoman Isabelle Caro, who weights just 4 stone 12 lbs, bears the legend 'No Anorexia' and the slogan of the Italian womenswear brand Nolita, for which it is an advertisement.
The debate over skinny models has been as hot a media issue in Italy as in Britain. The Nolita campaign has been given the blessing of the Italian Ministry of Health, with Health minister Livia Turco issuing a supportive statement, saying that the image promotes responsibility towards the problem of anorexia. The man behind the image is the fashion photographer Oliviero Toscani, who was responsible for the controversial Benetton advertising campaigns of the 1980s and 1990s. His most famous, or infamous, advertisement - until now - was his 1992 portrait of dying Aids patient David Kirby, which was used in a Benetton campaign.
Flash & Partners, owners of Nolita, have said that the image aims to raise awareness of an illness which "is caused in most cases by the stereotypes imposed by the world of fashion." The timing of the campaign, which launched during Milan fashion week, has reinforced the sense that the images represent something of a challenge to the designer fashion industry itself. Because of this, the billboards have been met with a distinct froideur from many in the industry, who dispute the theory that blame for anorexia can be laid wholly at their door. Caro herself, they point out, is not a model, but says that she has suffered from anorexia since she was 13 because of a "difficult childhood".
The designer Giorgio Armani queried the link between fashion and anorexia, commenting that "even people who take no notice of fashion get anorexic", while designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana described anorexia as a psychiatric problem with "nothing to do with fashion." The organisers of Milan fashion week have already had some success in clamping down on extremely skinny models appearing on the catwalks: although the models are not weighed, the consensus amongst audiences this week is that models look significantly healthier than in previous fashion weeks. In the light of this, some in the industry are frustrated by what they see as advertising shock tactics. Isabelle Caro herself, who writes a blog about her battle with anorexia, said she wanted "to show young people how dangerous this illness is."
