The leading association of US fashion designers said it would issue guidelines this week on the issue of skinny models, the group said. The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) will issue its findings to designers, modeling agencies and production companies by the end of the week ahead of castings for fashion week, which begins on February 2.
The issue of skinny models arose last September when Madrid authorities banned models who failed to meet a certain weight to height ratio from taking part in a major fashion show to avoid sending the wrong message to young girls.
The CFDA formed a special committee to look at the issue, composed of the council's new president, designer Diane von Furstenberg, a nutritionist, a psychiatrist, a trainer and a representative from a fashion PR firm.
Vogue Editor Anna Wintour and an agent from top modeling agency DNA were also present at a committee meeting last Friday.
The model debate intensified with the death in November of Brazilian Ana Carolina Reston, who suffered from anorexia. Sao Paolo's fashion week has since announced it will run a public information campaign on the condition.
In Italy, authorities and fashion designers last month adopted guidelines banning models if they do not meet a body mass index equivalent to 55 kilos (121 pounds) for someone measuring 1.75 meters (five foot seven).
The former president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Stan Herman, last year ruled out a ban on skinny models in New York, saying such rules would expose the organizers to possible legal action.
"It would be the same as banning somebody who's too fat," he told AFP in September. "Those people could sue... I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole."
