Following the Ralph Lauren ad controversy in which model Filippa Hamilton was photoshopped into a Hamptons style Bratz doll, the fashion and publishing industry is about to take another slap on the ass.
In the aftermath of the media attention regarding the ad, the Swedish born 23 year old model told the New York Daily News that she was fired because she couldn't fit into the clothes anymore. Recently rumors surfaced that Gemma Ward, a model whose walked the runways of every elite from Marc Jacobs to Valentino is quitting the catwalk due to the industry and media scrutiny regarding her weight gain.
It seems the great weight debate among fashion and the "real world" isn't going away. Its latest target? Babies.
Baby Jake is much happier and comfortable with his weight after quitting modeling.
News broke this past Sunday that a leading editor at a magazine admitted that babies were being "airbrushed" to make them look more attractive. Practical Parenting and Pregnancy, a monthly magazine, has said they only did this because they wanted to "put them across in the best light".
And now, baby models are falling on their diaper padded behinds under the pressure. Baby Jake, who rose to fame when he was chosen for the coveted Parisian Baby September cover has decided to retire from modeling. This news was announced at a press conference by his spokesperson, mother Irene.
Says Irene, "Jake has informed me by crying loudly at every photo shoot that we've attempted in the last 3 weeks that he no longer wants to be a model. That is all the information that I can give you at this time."
But, when we caught up with Irene and Jake in their Upper East Side New York home later in the week, the truth was revealed as to why baby Jake was really crying.
"I was a fat baby," says Irene holding a picture of herself when she was 6 months old, Jake's age now. Irene adds "so I know." She wipes a tear from her eye and continues "... what its like when people call you things like chubalub and chunka chunka thighs."
She first noticed that Jake's size was a problem at a photo shoot for Mode a la Bebe. A stylist tried to put him in a size 0-3 months Winnie the Pooh onesie, but a recent switch from just milk to cream cereal caused Jake to pack on the pounds.
"The stylist was trying to stuff him in these pajamas and he was crying. I asked if she had another size. She told me they don't make infant sample size clothing in Jake's size and if he wanted to model, he would need to adapt.' I immediately took him home and encouraged him to exercise in his Mr. Frog Fun-time Baby Bouncer, but he would just fall asleep in it." Said Irene.
After several instances of the same story, agents recommended that Jake consider plus size modeling. Jake remained uncooperative on those shoots as well. That's when his mother called a press conference to announce his retirement.
We asked Jake if he planned to return to modeling any time soon, but he just snatched the tape recorder from our hands and shoved it in his mouth. We assume his decision is final.
Read more about BBC's "My Supermodel Baby"
Read the original article in Telegraph UK
