George Michael's 'Freedom! '90' video starring "The Trinity" of supermodels

Gemma's post about where Beyonce's new Thierry Mugler inspiration comes from - George Michael's 'Too Funky' video - got me thinking about his other supermodel-packed video for his track, 'Freedom! '90'. The iconic clip features "The Trinity" of supermodels including Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington and Cindy Crawford. Michael decided not to take part in the 1990 video, allowing the models which also included Tatjana Patitz to mouth the words instead. So click play on the video above and turn it up!

Naomi Campbell slams Vogue's preference for white models

Naomi Campbell has slammed magazines like Vogue for sidelining black models by giving preference to fair-skinned women.

The stroppy supermodel said that ‘it is a pity that people don’t appreciate black beauty’.
The 37-year-old admitted that she herself finds it difficult to get a chance to appear in the cover page of the London issue of Vogue magazine.

“Black models are being sidelined by the major modeling agencies. It is a pity that people don’t appreciate black beauty,” Times Online quoted Campbell, as saying.

“Even myself, I get a raw deal from my own country in England. For example, I hardly come on the front pages of the London Vogue magazine. Only white models, some of whom are not as prominent as I am, are put on splash pages. I don’t want to quit modeling until I find that black models get equal prominence and recognition by the world media and information instruments.”

“I believe there are pretty girls from your lovely country who can grace the international catwalk and the front pages of fashion magazines with proper strategies.”

Campbell is now planning to start her own modeling agency in Kenya to look for African faces.
However, she agreed that it would take time to being the change in the industry.

“You can look through all the big magazines and see hundreds of models and not see a single black one. So anything which increases the pool of African talent is a good thing, but it will be a while before we see a big change in the industry,” she said.

Fashion group backs curbs on teen models

As manager of the Australian Fashion Council, Zoe Edquist sees more child models than most. Today she has been contemplating the recommendations that have been made by the Model Health Inquiry in Britain.

Their report, which was commissioned by the British fashion industry and released this week, suggests that models under the age of 16 be banned from the catwalk.

This is in order to protect them from the more undesirable aspects of the industry - illicit drug use and the potential to be overly sexualised or develop eating disorders.

Ms Edquist says their suggestion is a step in the right direction.

"I'm not sure about an outright ban, but I think that definitely there does need to be some regulations in place to make sure that young, vulnerable, underage girls aren't exploited by the fashion industry," she said.

"I think that it's probably a sensible move."

Australian and international modelling agent Stephen Bucknall agrees.

"I think that it is heading in the right direction," he said.

"I believe people under the age of 16 should not be in fashion shows unless they are supervised and do have a chaperone with them."

Mr Bucknall says the problem with models under the age of 16 is that they lack the maturity needed to deal with the intense scrutiny and pressure.

He says while he does have some models under the age of 16 on his books, he always ensures they are protected.

"I definitely think anyone around the 16 age bracket should have adult supervision," he said.
"I, myself - if I have any models that are doing fashion shows within Australia or overseas - I insist that a staff member or myself are present and backstage if needed."
Ms Edquist agrees that maturity is needed to survive in the industry.
"Modelling is a job that requires a huge amount of rejection for nearly every model," she said.
"So if you're a 14-year-old girl working as a professional model, you can pretty much bet nine out of the 10 jobs you'll go for you'll be rejected.
"So I don't know if rejection to that extent is something that is very healthy for a girl of that age."
But both Ms Edquist and Mr Bucknall believe a blanket ban is not beneficial for the industry, as there are lots of girls who can cope with these pressures at a young age.

Skinny models ban for Fashion Week

ORGANISERS of Australian Fashion Week are moving to introduce healthy weight guidelines for models, as doctors say the waif-thin young women promote eating disorders.

Fashion week boss Simon Lock said the industry had approached the issue responsibly.

“We don't want to see young girls hurting themselves in any way,” he told ABC TV.

The guidelines, similar to those existing in Spain and Italy, should be in place in time for next month's Australian Fashion Week, from April 30 to May 4.

The move coincides with Australian Medical Association (AMA) calls on the Federal Government to introduce healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) guidelines for fashion models to address eating disorders among young people.

BMI is a measure of the weight of a person scaled according to height.

The debate over waif-thin models, and body image, intensified last year when the organisers of the Madrid fashion week banned models with a BMI of less than 18.

According to the scale, people are considered underweight if they have a BMI below 18.5.