Paul de Gelder: Navy diver, shark attack survivor, smoking hot swimwear model

silke stuckenbrock/the navy diver

 

Aimee Mullins meet Paul de Gelder. Much has been written – and broadcast - about de Gelder’s near brush with death on February 11, 2009, when the then 31 year-old Royal Australian Navy clearance diver and former paratrooper and East Timor peacekeeper came face-to-face with a three metre bull shark, which savaged his right hand and leg. A double amputation, extensive rehabilitation and two years later, de Gelder is back at work as a Royal Australian Navy diver trainer, with several brand new spinoff careers, including motivational speaker and conservationist, who has called on the United Nations to protect sharks from over fishing. Earlier this year he also became a published author, with the release of No time for fear: How a shark attack survivor beat the odds. But de Gelder has another new career that’s a little less well-documented: fashion model. To be precise, underwear and swimwear model for new Sydney-based brand The Navy Diver. 

No, the brand was not named after de Gelder. 

Founder Michael Christofis was already mates with several other RAN divers at the time he met de Gelder and in fact they introduced the pair. Christofis was immediately impressed with de Gelder's charisma.

“I was with Paul the week before he got attacked and this guy could walk into a room and charm everyone, he was just so fit and audacious, that alone captivated me” says Christofis, who launched The Navy Diver in November 2010 as an underwear range, adding a  swimwear collection to the mix two months ago. “After seeing him go through the attack and seeing even more tenacity afterwards, I felt like Paul stepped up to the challenge, almost in a way that I don’t think a lot of people could. As soon as I saw Paul in prosthetics, I thought, it’s time the world starts to appreciate someone with an acquired disability, who has prosthetics and who can still look sexy and hot. He’s almost half man, half machine”.

Christofis' promotional imagery includes shots of de Gelder both with and without his prostheses. Above and below is a series of campaign images shot to promote the new swimwear range, sans artifical hand. De Gelder's carbon fibre and black plastic robot hand - called an 'eye limb' - can be seen in some of the underwear shots on The Navy Diver website. 

Christofis has even cranked up the 'man/machine' idea for the welcome page of his website, with an enhanced photo-illustration of de Gelder as a cyborg:

photo by alex photopaint, illustration by chris ryder/the navy diver

De Gelder is pretty comfortable with the cyborg idea. In fact 'The Terminator' title of the ABC Australian Story profile which aired earlier this year comes from an anecdote recounted by de Gelder in the interview, regarding an exchange with his plastic surgeon Dr Kevin Ho shortly after the shark attack. When Ho announced that de Gelder's badly-mauled right leg would have to be amputated below the knee, de Gelder told Ho, “Doc, take it. Make me a Terminator."

Here is a preview of de Gelder in The Navy Diver's new video to promote the swimwear range, just shot in Forster, NSW:

It's not the first time that a model with prosthetics has come to the attention of the fashion world. Many would recall Aimee Mullins, a double amputee and Paralympian, who attracted considerable attention after appearing in Alexander McQueen’s Spring/Summer 1999 show, wearing a pair of hand-carved wooden legs. 

Women and men with any kind of physical disability are, however, extremely rare in modelling.

At a time when many in de Gelder’s situation would most likely have been feeling extraordinarily self-conscious, what prompted him to become an underwear model?

“When Mickey initially told me about his dream to do the Navy Diver underwear, and his desire to have me as one of his models I nearly choked on the food I was eating” de Gelder told frockwriter. “I thought, you've got to be kidding. Who's going to want to see some skinny bloke with one hand and one leg in their jocks? The passion to fulfill his dream though was very evident and as time went on he began to sway me. I really enjoy helping people, especially my friends. My public profile had increased a bit and I figured that if I could give him any sort of boost then it really would be the right thing to do. Although I was very nervous. It was one of those opportunities which, if you passed it up, you might kick yourself later. Plus I really enjoy getting out of my comfort zone because those are the times where you learn the most about yourself and what you're actually capable of. Whether it's fast-roping 90ft out of a helicopter, diving 60m beneath the ocean or holding your breath and doing ridiculous-feeling poses underwater in front of a camera. It's all about experiencing and embracing opportunities.

“I can honestly say that I'm no model and no I’ve never done any modelling before. I really just tried to have some fun with it and hope I didn't look too silly. I'm doing so many things at this point in my life, from public speaking, to visiting children's hospitals, to addressing delegates from the UN in New York on conservation, that underwear modelling really didn't seem that far fetched. Just a lot scarier. The fact that afterwards when all the pictures came out and peoples’ comments were so flattering and so nice, really made me feel better about the way my body had become. I train very hard for my work as a navy diver but I would never class myself as someone who would be considered for modelling. I'm not one of "the beautiful people" [laughs]. I'm just a normal guy.

For the moment Christofis and de Gelder have what Christofis describes as an "informal exclusive arrangement". But de Gelder told frockwriter that he would consider other modelling work in the future, should any other fashion marketers prove to be similarly open-minded.

“I've never really considered the internal politics of the modelling world, I guess as I've never been a part of it" he added. "I think it's like any job: some people are more suited to it than others but beauty is, as we know, in the eye of the beholder. It can't be an easy job catering to every person's desires of what is aesthetically pleasing. Colour, creed or disability though, I don't think anyone should believe that they can't be or do anything that they want. The cold hard fact is however that life can be really tough and people have the capacity to be mean. So what! People overcome adversity and beat the odds every day. Oscar Pistorius, the runner from South Africa with no legs; Jessica Watson the teenager who circumnavigated the globe by herself; an army friend of mine who was in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan... he broke his back and several other bones but now kick boxes competitively. We are all more capable than we give ourselves credit for. If I had walked into a modelling agency with one hand and a prosthetic leg, I'd probably be looked at like 'Is this guy taking the piss?' I don't even have a modelling agent now but through circumstances outside of my control and a willingness to be open to experiences I ended up modelling in my underwear in magazines and websites around the world. So who's to say something can't be done?”

all images: silke stuckenbrock for the navy diver

Robyn Lawley strikes again - in Vogue Australia's first ever plus size fashion shoot

max doyle for vogue australia september 2011

On the occasion of her groundbreaking recent cover of Vogue Italia, alongside two other plus-sized models, we mentioned that Australia’s Robyn Lawley had another high fashion coup up her sleeve, just shot in Australia with Max Doyle. Frockwriter can reveal that that shoot is in fact a 10-page designer fashion editorial called 'Belle Curve' in the September edition of Vogue Australia, which is out on August 3rd. Subscriber copies landed today (thanks to our tipster who emailed the shots in). The editorial is accompanied by a double-page interview with Lawley. According to Kirstie Clements' editor's letter, this is the first time in Vogue Australia's 52-year history that the magazine has shot a plus-sized model for a fashion editorial. Hot on the heels of Lawley’s Vogue Italia cover and her Elle France cover in April, 2011 is turning out to be a banner year for Lawley, Bonner and the plus size-specialist modelling industry. 

Clements continues in her editor's letter:

“This is the first time Vogue Australia has shot a larger model and of course now that we have done it, I ask myself why we didn’t do it sooner. But that’s because Robyn is especially gorgeous. I went to the shoot to meet her and was transfixed by her beauty and poise. She is a truly super duper model. When a plus size model first turns up to the studio, she may be an anomaly to a team normally used to working with size 6’s, but once photographer Max Doyle started shooting Robyn, we quickly readjusted our preconceived notions of beauty. She doesn’t actually look plus size to me at all now. I said to a colleague on set later that day, “And men like curves don’t they?” He looked at me like I was an idiot. “Yes Kirsty, we certainly do” was his laconic reply. It’s an interesting conversation – the world of high fashion and fuller-figured women. One that needs to be continued”.

According to Lawley's Australian agent, Chelsea Bonner, the director of plus size-specialist agency Bella Model Management, the Vogue Australia editorial is an even sweeter victory than the Vogue Italia cover. 

“The amazing thing about the Vogue Australia shoot is that they actually dressed her - went out and found these beautiful designer garments to wear” Bonner told frockwriter. “Which just proves the point that there is clothing available for plus size models to wear in high fashion, it just takes a little bit of extra effort to find them. Vogue Australia went to that effort and the results are incredible”.

Of the rollercoaster media ride that ensued in the wake of the Italian cover, Bonner adds, “It went viral worldwide, has been commented on in I don’t know how many hundreds of magazines, blog sites and newspapers. And it reflects, I think, definitely the shift in consumers. Women want to see more realistic-sized models in magazines. They’re screaming for it. The response that we had from Italian Vogue was absolutely out of control. But my personal opinion is that Australian Vogue has blown Italian Vogue out of the water because of the fact that it is a true fashion editorial - rather than having curvy girls in lingerie, like they normally do. It’s not just having a token plus size model. It’s a true fashion editorial”.  

photographer: max doyle
fashion editor: meg gray
fashion assistant: megha kapoor
makeup: justine purdue
hair: renya xydis

Mezi (fashion) plate: Anja Konstantinova dances around model protocol

patrick mcgreal for mezi jewellery

Another day, another big buzz new model, it seems, is springboarded out of the Australasian market. Twenty year-old Anja Konstantinova is not, however, just another sultry, sun-kissed Aussie blonde. Russian-born, Konstantinova has spent half her life downunder, moving here in 2001 with her prima ballerina mother Irina Konstantinova and father Sergei Konstantinov, both former principal dancers with the Kirov Ballet who now teach at The Australian Ballet School. Signed to Sydney agency Priscilla's six months ago, Konstantinova did just two shows at May's Australian Fashion Week (Ellery and Friend of Mine). But she has obviously caught the industry's eye. Since then, according to Priscilla's, she has shot for Vogue and GQ Australia, Oyster (five stories), Grazia (four stories), Marie Claire, No, Pages Online, Poster magazine, a Ksubi calendar, an Oroton catalogue and the Spring/Summer 2011/2012 campaign for rising Sydney jewellery brand Mezi. Above and below is a first look at the Mezi campaign shot by Patrick McGreal.

Repped by Viva in Paris, Marilyn in New York and Models One in London, the international market is also beckoning.

Last month Konstantinova flew to Paris to be shot for Jalouse magazine. In the US she has already shot campaigns for Urban Outfitters and Wildfox Couture, photographed by, respectively, Charlie Engman and Mark 'The Cobrasnake' Hunter.

All the hallmarks of a very promising modelling career, on which Konstantinova hopes to build over the next three and a half months in New York and Europe.

There's just one catch. Apart from her exotic Russian and ballet ancestry, there is one other factor which marks Konstantinova apart from the rest of the Australian model pack - make that the model pack, period.

She is only five foot four.

In an industry that has traditionally shut its doors to those under five ten, what's her secret? 

"She’s extraordinary and her personality is amazing, I think that that makes a big difference" says Priscilla's agent, Lizzie Leighton-Clark. "And she’s so well in proportion as well. She’s got such a great personality, such a great look, I don't think it matters".

The photographic studio is of course very different to the runway, where models tend to be of uniform height.

At 5'7" Kate Moss was one famous exception to the industry standard. Another Priscilla's protegée, Bambi Northwood-Blyth, also 5'7", has recently managed considerable success on the international runway circuit, booking prestigious shows such as Chanel and Balenciaga.

With the Spring/Summer 2012 show season just two months away, what realistic chance does the even more petite Konstantinova have on the international circuit? 

Notes Leighton-Clark, "I’m not sure about the shows, but I have no doubt that she’s going to be a major success. She might get one or two amazing shows. I think that everyone’s bored of the norm and looking for something a bit different".

photography: patrick mcgreal
hair and makeup: max may

all images supplied exclusively to frockwriter by mezi jewellery

"We need fashion to catch up to women of size" - Velvet d'Amour

steven meisel for vogue italia

Much has been written about this month’s Vogue Italia cover story of three plus sized models: Americans Tara Lynn and Candice Huffine and Australian Robyn Lawley. Frockwriter covered the story here. Above and below is the remainder of the accompanying fashion editorial. This edition has been hailed as a watershed moment in the body image debate by some, including Australian commentator Mia Freedman, the chair of Australia’s National Body Image Advisory Group, who noted: “Huzzah! An Australian size 14 is on the cover of Italian Vogue”. Others weren't quite so perky. “Topless plus size women equals empowerment?” asked womens’ advocate Melinda Tankard Reist. Some suggested the move was tokenistic. While others lamented the fact that the women had been photographed semi-nude in lingerie, which only served to reinforce, they noted, the sexualised cliché of larger women and porn. What says plus size icon Velvet d’Amour? 

Regular readers of my various blogs would know that Velvet is an American actor, model – and latterly, photographer - who lives in Paris. 

We first met after the Jean Paul Gaultier Spring/Summer 2007 show in Paris in October 2006, in which Velvet walked alongside Gemma Ward and other "straight"-sized models, generating headlines around the world. Gaultier's casting appeared to be a direct nod to fashion's latest skinny model debate, that had been sparked in August that year by the eating disorder-related death of Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos, which was swiftly followed by the deaths of two other South American models, including her sister Eliana. Velvet had previously walked for John Galliano. 

Here are the interviews I did with Velvet at smh.com.au and later at news.com.au. In the latter, which generated quite some heated (and at times abusive) commentary, Velvet talked about the flak she has copped from the plus size industry, which has always considered her far too big for its ranks. 

Here is her take on Vogue Italia's June issue, body diversity in high fashion imagery and the commonly-espoused theory that fashion's embrace of larger women encourages obesity:

maya guez via anna scholz

First off, congrats to your Aussie sister Robyn for scoring some great work of late. She and the models featured are definite beauties!

There is certainly a lot of talk about the Italian Vogue shoot. Mainstream folk seem to take offence to the fact that the models included are even deemed PLUS, when they are more ‘average’ size women, and others discuss a sense of exploitation, a lack of actual ‘fashion’, and then the inevitable health debate, while many are quite simply thrilled by it.

The way I see it is, that we need fashion to catch up to women of size, in order to make a stunning FASHION orientated editorial. If you were to take the average Vogue Italia editorial, and attempt to dress these same models in the clothes, best of luck to the stylist to find their size.

As to a sense of exploitation, or ‘soft porn’ feel, my sense is that our minds have been programmed via mainstream fashion to question FLESH. Fleshy, curvy women have been relegated to men’s magazines, whilst edgy editorial fashion in particular, has been inundating us with imagery glorifying adolescence (sometimes using models even as young as 13); the standard sample size forces the use of more skeletal models; and the opening of the Eastern bloc countries (where women are naturally quite delicately slender) caused an influx of lanky lovelies to grace the pages of our magazines and thus it’s really quite normal that the curves here are deemed as more risqué. We have been fed a steady diet of rail thin, white, tall, Youth for the most part. Thus instead of delving further into what Beauty means to us as individuals, the tendency is not to question authority. And VOGUE is certainly the pinnacle of authority when it comes to Fashion.

Yet were we to take what is the essence of the true meaning of FASHION in all likelihood it encompasses and revels in Change, in decadence, in obscurity versus ordinary, in risk-taking. While fashion beckons followers and innovation creates fashion, it’s those who deviate from accepted norms who create so much of our fashion from the get go. Fashion is innovative, tumultuous and it’s not meant to stagnate. Sameness is born of the dependence fashion magazines have on advertisers, who tend to be the very last people to take risk (due to the amount of money involved). It is this unlikely marriage of two opposing yet dependant components which has stagnated the blossoming of fashion, and in turn, its’ muses.

I have always been drawn to Steven Meisel’s photography and find these images equally stunning, though not particularly controversial in my opinion. I have stated on my own model portfolio (on the Model Mayhem website),
 

I'd say a good 99.999% of the artists interested in working with me wanna get me naked, not that I blame them, lol

It is quite the odd dichotomy that as a society, fat is viewed with derision, yet should one go out on a limb and include a genuinely voluptuous model, 9 times out of 10 they will do so by harkening back to the Renaissance. Rubens and the like, are seemingly our only reference point for a larger body.

Given I shoot as well, and certainly have photographed my fair share of nudes of all shapes and sizes, I understand the drive.

Were Herb Ritts to come back to life, I'd greet the boy starker’s.

I have posed nude for photographers like Daniele + Iango, Rancinan and in the film AVIDA, etc. thus I do not dismiss all tasteful nude propositions, but my main reason for modeling is in fact, as a political statement; that we need to diversify modern standards of beauty. If we continually marry the fat body with nude classics, then we are hardly creating a revolution. It's too easy in a sense, one gets a 'different' look and perhaps is praised for such, but if you really want to be revolutionary, then why not do a FASHION shoot with a bigger body versus pulling out the old Botticelli standard? 

As to the continuing Health debate, many a comment revolves around the message sent by using a woman of ‘size’, some stating the models are ‘obese’ and unhealthy, others fearful it will encourage people to be fat. The concept that fashion magazines are a reference guide of health to their viewers, seems only rarely pertinent on occasion, when we witness an exceptionally thin model, and inevitably whenever we possibly include a slightly curvy model. The reality that cultural pressures are one of the factors involved in eating disorders cannot be dismissed, though the notion that someone leafing through a magazine witnessing a plus size model has a sudden urge to down several thousand pizzas in the hopes of gaining a few pounds, is rather laughable at best. Were the inclusion of plus size models to spur viewers to gain weight, the inverse of that logic would mean (given the dearth of rail thin models in magazines), that the entire world would be emaciated, versus fat.

Time and again the issue of health is touted as a pertinent reason for the near total exclusion of fat women in modern media. Yet let’s have a look at who we utterly deify in popular culture, without questioning for a second their physical or mental health. Then ask yourself just how legitimate an argument it is to impose upon plus size models the responsibility of being the poster children for bonne santé, when we have no clue as to any model’s state of health when looking at her dancing through the pages of a magazine. Au contraire, we are well aware that a great number of popular actors, models, dancers, rock groups etc that inundate media have dabbled in drugs, drink,etc. And rather than scoff at them with derision and judgment, we fete them on a daily basis.

Avoiding fat people isn’t about health, it’s about Cool and un-cool.

My take on Cool is Diversity.

I don’t look to fashion magazines for advice on health, I look at them for fashion. We need to start looking beyond the simplistic and dig deeper. If you want to have a health debate, then let’s tackle mental health, which is the stimulus, more often than not, affecting s one’s physical health. If we start to include a major cross-section of our society within the revered pages of fashion magazines, fat women, emaciated women, women of colour, aging women, differently-abled women, small women, you name it - then we can turn the tide against the overwhelming sense so many women suffer from not being able to live up to this exceedingly stringent, highly unattainable beauty ethic we currently subscribe to.

- Velvet d'Amour 

 

all B/W images: steven meisel for vogue italia june 2011

Robyn Lawley covers Vogue Italia

steven meisel for vogue italia via bella model management

When Australian Robyn Lawley recently landed the cover of ELLE France's 'curvy' issue, frockwriter mentioned that she had just been shot for the June edition of another, even more prestigious European title by one of the biggest names in fashion photography. They don't come much bigger than Vogue Italia and Steven Meisel. Congratulations to Lawley, who appears on the June 2011 cover of Vogue Italia (above, far right) with two other plus-sized models, Tara Lynn and Candice Huffine. Lawley, an Australian size 14, is also prominently featured inside the issue, in the remainder of the Meisel-lensed cover story (see another shot, below), but also in an only-girl editorial shot by Pierpaulo Ferrari (see further down for three behind-the-scenes images from that shoot, taken by Lawley). Lawley has more high fashion gigs on the horizon, having just shot with Max Doyle back home in Australia.  

steven meisel for vogue italia via bella model management

“It [the Vogue cover] just makes the last nine years of my life all worth it" says Lawley's mother agent Chelsea Bonner, the director of plus-size specialist agency Bella Model Management. "I could drop dead right now and I’d be so happy. I don’t know how I'm ever going to top it. It’s just a complete validation of what I've been trying to say for the last nine years: that curves and high fashion do work. And given the same opportunities as any other model gets, the result is just as beautiful, just as amazing, just as glamorous. To be given that sort of opportunity and for Robyn to blow it out of the water like she has, it’s proof that it can be done and it should on on a regular basis". 

Regarding Lawley's legs akimbo pose on the Vogue cover, according to Bonner, Meisel asked Lawley to sit (words to the effect), "How you would sit if you were a really powerful person".  

As for the flak prompted by Bonner's comments on our last Lawley post in April - when Bonner said she has yet to meet a size 22 woman who is healthy -  she notes, "I thought it was interesting that I’m not allowed to have an opinion when Bella is completely my opinion. The whole business is my opinion of beauty and what works and doesn’t work and what the market wants. So if anyone should be allowed to have an opinion, it should be me. We did have a lot of controversy over that and even on our Facebook page. But we had doctors, nutritionists and psychologists writing in and every single one agreed with my statement". 

all three images: pierpaulo ferrari for vogue italia, BTS shot by robyn lawley

It is reportedly 11 years since Vogue Italia last featured a plus-size model on its cover - Sophie Dahl. 

But the body image issue appears to be gathering momentum at the high fashion title. 
 
In February last year, Vogue Italia launched a plus-size-dedicated microsite called Vogue Curvy.

Then in March this year, editor Franza Sozzani launched a petition to combat pro-anorexia websites. 

In a letter to readers on the Vogue Italia website, Sozzani noted [her bold type emphasis]: 

"I did some research and found that there are countless pro-anorexia websites and blogs that not only support the disorder, but also urge young people to be competitive about their “body shape”.

 

Vogue Italia, the magazine par excellence that deals with and promotes aesthetics and beauty, has decided to make use of its authority and its readers on the web (over one million of contacts per month), to battle against anorexia and collect signatures with the final goal of shutting such sites down.


Fashion has been always blamed as one of the culprits of anorexia, and our commitment is the proof that fashion is ready to get on the frontline and struggle against the disorder."

   

Underneath Sozzani's letter, Associazione Bulimia Anoressia founder Fabiola de Clerq added:

"It is of paramount importance to explain teenage girls that being skinny does not equal being perfect and to promote beauty standards which start from and are all about being healthy".

Frockwriter couldn't help chuckling after reading these mission statements. 

Ninety-nine percent of the time, of course, Vogue Italia's models are whippet-thin, many struggling to keep their weight down to satisfy the draconian requirements of the industry's top casting directors, photographers, designers, stylists and magazine editors.

And any model who dares put on a few pounds can expect to be shown the door. 

The big league: H&M launches a plus size collection for Spring

Karl Lagerfeld severed ties with H&M in part because the company wanted to produce his collection in large sizes, while he was reportedly only interested in designing “fashion for slender and slim people”. But it seems the Swedish fast fashion behemoth hasn’t let this rain on its plus size parade. From early March, H&M will offer a 20-unit capsule collection called, simply, Inclusive, which will be available in sizes 32-54 and sold exclusively online (these would appear to be Swedish sizes, which equate to an Australian 6-28). Many thanks to Runway Revolution for the headsup. Why online only? In 2008, when Australian designer Leona Edmiston decided to double her size range to a 24, coincidentally she also only offered the larger sizes online, after her research indicated that many larger women felt uncomfortable in boutiques. 

After frockwriter (in her previous incarnation as Fully Chic) opened up what would become a rather heated discussion on the subject, others added in that many larger women in fact feel unwelcome in mainstream fashion boutiques. 

Considering that so many fashion boutiques appear not to have much stock over a size 10, is that so very surprising? 

So far H&M appears only to be shipping to Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Swedish Finland and the UK, but we have a hunch they may be about to be inundated with global enquiries. 

The accompanying campaign features plus size Australian model Robyn Lawley (second from the top).  

Great initiative. Adorable dresses. Not before time.

all images: H&M

Vogue means never having to say you're seventy

tom ford for vogue paris via fashion_screen

Ah the Tom Ford issue of Vogue Paris. It just keeps on giving. Following the 'Forever Young' editorial in which a blinged-up grey-haired couple is caught by Ford's camera in flagrante delicto - and Ford's proclamation that he has had it with the cult of youth, the stigmatization of wrinkles and all those who "cheat" time - comes an editorial spread starring some of the women who modelled the new Tom Ford womenswear collection at his exclusive media launch at New York Fashion Week in September. And a couple of ringins, including Ali McGraw. (In order below) Betty Catroux, Marisa Berenson and Lauren Hutton look like ultra glamorous 60+ women - although any thinner and Berenson would have been at grave risk of being mistaken for a light stand in Vogue's studio. The Love Story star, however, doesn't look a day over 45. Which is fascinating, since McGraw is in fact 72. Granted, she has been practicing yoga for the past 20 years, but considering that this is what McGraw looked like in 2006 and here she is in an interview with Oprah Winfrey several months ago - looking absolutely fantastic, we must say - is it just a question of good lighting or has she in fact been Photoshopped by Vogue to within an inch of her life? Given Ford's vigorous stance on ageing in the 'Forever Young' editorial, the latter scenario would seem more than a little inconsistent.

As it happens, McGraw has quite strong views on images of women in the media.
 

Here she is in another video interview, below. Uploaded by the reporter in 2009, it's unclear whether it was recorded that year, or perhaps several years earlier. 

On the issue of the celebrity-driven pressure to be thin, McGraw notes: 

“I have a raging fury against the media. Whether it’s a fashion magazine showing that this skinny 14 year-old is the way a grown-up woman is meant to look or this scared, tiny, starving herself pop star is the model against which our teenage and 20 year old and 30 year old women are meant to look. And I think it has to start with the media. And I'm just in a rage about it because I have watched a whole generation of kids behind.... You know, it’s always about fear... 'Am I enough?', 'Am I attractive enough?', 'Am I cool?' Because that’s the special word. And until we have images out there at the checkout counter that show what cool really looks like and it doesn’t look like an anorexic, cutting yourself girl, we’re going to have a population of kids looking like this. Because they’re so uncomfortable anyway with themselves, that they think a certain dress or certain bones showing, makes them OK and it doesn’t”.

Just out of interest, which model did Ford pick for the Vogue Paris December cover? New Dutch face Daphne Groeneveld. Who is 14.



 

all images: tom ford for vogue paris december 2010 via fashion_screen