To shock or not to shock. . . !

Hello everyone at J. LaMore and thanks for letting me in to write a few words. I follow your blog on your Twitter and Facebook and you guys do a really good job!

I'm from New York and I have to join in on the controversy of fat models and I want to add a racy advertising element to the fray as well. I'm in advertising so this is a topic I know a little something about.

I'm in complete agreement with everyone in saying that Coco Rocha isn't fat and the fashion industry should just stop trying to push the envelope of skeleton thin models. But, I believe that even the designers who didn't use her don't actually believe she's fat either. That was probably a twist on the facts and the word "fat" is far more shocking and attention grabbing for a model than any other word in the dictionary. I wasn't there, of course, so I'm only speculating.

This past summer Calvin Klein tried to "shock" everyone, when he ran this racy billboard showing half naked young woman in what appears to be a threesome (or a foursome, I guess) trying to sell some jeans. I don't know who produced this ad but it got some attention but unfortunately it didn't shock anyone. Calvin Klein is a designer who seems to have reached his lowest point in sales and some say that this is a desperate act to draw some attention back to his brand. But, Calvin Klein has been running racy ads for a long time (remember Brooke Shields)and when this billboard hit Broadway, nobody cared. Ouch!

Why is it that this ad isn't shocking and a "not fat" model is? Is this the demographic of Calvin Klein? It must be because running a national ad campaign costs millions of dollars and Calvin Klein isn't stupid. However, the oldest game in town is using sex to sell just about anything and when that doesn't shock anyone anymore you need a new marketing director. Even when you throw a sexy element into your ad it still has to have a purpose.

In closing, Coco Rocha isn't fat and calling her "fat" isn't shocking. Calvin Klein tried to be shocking and didn't shock anyone.

Back to work.

Susan
New York, NY

Coco Rocha. . . Fabulous

Hi Friends & bloggers! I was very amused by the article on Coco Rocha being too fat to walk a runwayy so I did a little research of my own and I completely agree, she is gorgeous and hardly fat. Here's an interview she gave Joy Sewing yesterday for the Houston Chronical. I hope it's ok that I posted it for all the J. LaMore readers.

Rocha, 21, talked to us about her work and her plans for her own clothing line, Rococo.

“I want to be taken seriously for this fashion line,” she said by phone. “It's not just a licensing thing. If it flops, I'll continue work on it until it's a success.”

Q: What runway shows do you enjoy walking in?

A: Zac Posen, Rag & Bone, Gaultier. I like ones in which the designer lets me show my personality. You feel far better in the clothes when you're allowed to be yourself.

Q: What New York shows will you walk in?

A: I don't do many any more. Some designers don't want the bigger or the more expensive girls.

Q: You're actually considered big, seriously?

A: In this industry, you will always be either too big or too small. I realize it's not necessary to please everyone.

Q: At nearly 5 feet 10 inches tall, how much do you weigh?

A: 125.

Q: Do you feel pressured to lose weight?

A: When I started at 15, I worked in Singapore and lost 10 pounds. I went from 118 to 108. Then I was asked to lose more weight because the “anorexic look” was in. I started to panic about eating certain foods. Finally, I had to calm down and realize I just needed to be healthy.

Q: You're an advocate for promoting healthier body images in the industry. What does that mean?

A: I get a lot of e-mails from young girls saying they need to lose weight to look like us. So it's important I go to schools and talk with girls and get them to realize that what they see on the covers of the magazines isn't always what is seems.

Q: What would surprise people to know about New York Fashion Week?

A: People forget most of the models are young girls. They are babies who are being influenced by anyone and everything.

So if someone says to them, “You're not our look,” they take it so hard.

They want to know how they can change.

It's a lot of pressure on their tiny shoulders that they don't need.

Lynn
Los Angeles, CA

It's New York Fashion Week. . . ,

and guess what? There's a scandal! Not a Tiger Woods kind of sex scandal but a real bona-fide stop the presses scandal. Canadian super model Coco Rocha was declared "too fat" to work some of the runway shows. Oh no! Bless her heart!

She's a hulking size 4 and got rejected by some of the big name designers! LOL! OMG!

The picture above looks like a "WTF" shot doesn't it?

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water this happens. First you had the image altering scandal not too long ago and then the anorexic scandal which apparently never ends and now a size 4 is just to damn fat to walk a runway. Do you think the runway floor itself had to be reinforced underneath? Like with braces or something? Hey New York, you can send her our way. J. LaMore will photograph her ALL DAY LONG!

Ok, that was kind of snobby on my part but it was called for. Rocha is 5'10" and 115 pounds. I know the runway model size today is a "0" and a size 4 is huge by any New York comparison but I think if you saw some of the fashions I strongly doubt one single person could tell if the model was a 2, 4, or a 6. Fashion shows like these are kind of silly because hardly a single design you see on the runway makes it to a store or is available to buy. They're just putting on a talent show, so to speak. Granted the shows are fascinating and fun but not very realistic. I'm a fashion photographer so I can pick on our industry if I want.

I also smell a rat here with this scandal because it seems to me that the elite and snooty designers at the show are trying to steal some press and create a scandal where one doesn't exist. Coco Rocha is stunningly beautiful at age 21 and has been doing this for some time. She did become an outspoken person for industry reform as she often tells the story of making herself sick trying to lose the weight for a show but she looks amazing even at a size 4.

But lets be fair here, Rocha has walked several shows at New York Fashion Week and scheduled to walk a few more so I'm a little confused by her saying she can't get work. She's all over the place. I think it's a two headed rat I smell.

Jim
Jlamore.com