Karen Carpenter (Photo : YouTube)
It has been officially confirmed that using excessively thin models is illegal in France. Fashion houses and talent agencies will be fined 75,000 euros or approximately $82,000 with a six-month imprisonment if they use such models, Philly reported.
According to the amendment to French Socialist President Francois Hollande's health bill, a model whose body mass index falls below levels proposed by health authorities is considered excessively thin. Thus, such model cannot legally word as a model in France, which is home to Chanel, Dior, Saint Laurent and several other top fashion companies in the world.
On April 3, Thursday, one day before France criminalized using excessively thin models, French lawmakers voted to prohibit websites that encourage readers to achieve a thin physique through self-starvation. Websites promoting hazardous dietary restrictions could be penalized with a 10,000 euros or approximately $11,000 fine and one-year imprisonment.
Nonprofit organization Association Autrement, which aims to help eating disorder sufferers, said there are more than 200,000 people suffering from anorexia in France, which is five times the estimate of the French government.
In 2007, anorexic French model Isabelle Caro posed nude for an advertising campaign. She helped raise awareness about the illness before her death in 2010.
One music legend known for dying of anorexia nervosa is Karen Carpenters. At age of 32, she died from heart failure caused by complications related to her eating disorder.
Meanwhile, Carpenter is being immortalized for her legacy as a musician without her tragic death caused by anorexia nervosa by musician Lisa Rock, who describes the late music legend as "one of the greatest vocalists of all time," Chicago Tribune reported.
Since 2010, Rock has been performing songs by Carpenter in her touring show titled "Close To You: The Music of The Carpenters."
