The French government officially passed a law today that bans excessively thin models, and that will subject casting agents and fashion houses who hire them to fines and jail time. Under the new legislation, all models must present a medical certificate proving that they have a BMI of at least 18 before they are hired for a job.
This measure is part of a wider crackdown on the promotion of anorexia by President Francoise Holland: The second part of this law specifically targets pro-anorexia websites or any other sites that promote "excessive thinness by encouraging eating restrictions for a prolonged period of time, resulting in risk of mortality or damage to health," incriminating those responsible with fines and jail time as well.
France, of course, is not the first country to take this stance on dangerously skinny models. Madrid's regional government and Israel have imposed similar, BMI-based bans. In New York, Diane von Furstenberg and the CFDA released a list of model guidelines back in 2012, though these guidelines more publicly targeted age than thinness (aside from some suggestions of how to spot eating disorders among models). Now that France, which arguably rivals New York City as the world's foremost fashion capital, has enacted these laws , will other countries follow suit?