The founder of Danish fashion magazine Cover has apologized for featuring a model with an emaciated frame in her newest publication.
The image, pictured above, is causing a stir on social media, as many have expressed outrage over the model’s minuscule body frame. The picture inspired the trending hashtag, “#covergate,” as well as the Reddit thread, “corpse or model,” soon after its release.
“Today is a sad day for me,” wrote founder Malene Malling on Facebook. “On the Cover, we have, through the years, printed tens of thousands of images, but the images of an all-too-thin model in Cover 103 shouldn’t be printed.”
“I have not lived up to my responsibility as a publisher, woman and mother and am truly sorry,” she continued. “On the Cover we have, in all the years, worked to show an expanded beauty ideal…Show that you can be beautiful in various ages and various sizes. We have always sought to work with healthy girls.”
Malling added that just two months ago, a plus-size model graced the pages of her magazine. “It is certain a subject we focus on,” she insisted.
Despite her efforts, Malling’s integrity continues to be questioned. Danish Tax Minister Benny Englebrecht was just one person to use Twitter as a platform to cast a spotlight on what he views as an ongoing problem in the fashion industry.
“I seriously thought that the fashion industry had understood that anorexia is a problem that should be taken seriously,” he said, as he shared the image of the shockingly thin model.