Twiggy doesn't think fashion industry 'will ever move completely away from slimness'

Model says industry 'should use different shapes and sizes'

Twiggy has said she doesn’t think the high fashion industry will ever “go completely away from slimness”.

In a new interview with the Guardian, the 70-year-old, whose real name is Lesley Lawson, opened up about her experience as a model and how fashion has changed over the years.

Lawson, who picked up the nickname Twiggy for her petite figure and androgynous appearance, began modelling in the 1960s and quickly earned global fame after posing on the covers of Vogue and Tatler.

When asked if the fashion industry needs to change and focus more on different shapes and sizes Lawson, who has been associated with “extreme thinness” throughout her career, said that while she believes improvements are being made she doesn’t the use of thin models will ever change.

“Well, it has, hasn’t it, there are so many more ads now. It’s the same with older models, they’re using middle-aged and older women in commercials,” she said.

“I don’t think the high fashion industry will ever go completely away from slimness but I think other parts of the industry have started to use different shapes and sizes, and I think they should.”

Lawson went on to point out that her clothing range for high street stalwart Marks & Spencer was designed for women who wear sizes eight to 22.

The former model has previously spoken out about her body image, stating that while she was a “very, very skinny model”, that was her natural frame.

“I ate. I always said I ate, and I looked like my dad who was very skinny, so I think that’s genetic. I think most models fall into that category: if you are 17 years old and you are 5-foot-11, the chances are you’re going to be thin,” she previously told Huffington Post.

“But we do know that there are girls pushed to not eating and to losing weight and that is not good because you have tragedies with girls being ill or even worse. There’s no doubt that there are some models who are too thin.”

In 2017, two luxury French fashion powerhouses joined forces to stop using size zero (UK size four) models on the runway.

LVMH and Kering, who between them own Gucci, Saint Laurent, Vuitton and Dior, unveiled a charter “to ensure the wellbeing of models” which also banned the use of girls under the age of 16 for photoshoots or fashion shows where they’d be representing adults.

Earlier that year, France banned the use of unhealthily thin models as part of a new law targeting “unrealistic body images” and eating disorders by asking models to provide a doctor’s certificate attesting to their overall health and proving their body mass index (BMI) sits within a healthy range in order to work.

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