Cole Speaks

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Kenneth Cole, blog-a-log-logging away on his new Awearness site, touches on the issue of skinny models today. In the shoe man's opinion, we shouldn't monitor models' weights: "Absent of a clear, specific measure of universally acceptable standards of health and well-being, I am not sure this can be regulated at this point in time. There are still too many subjective elements, such as: age; genetics; individual metabolic rates; self-perception; etc. It's also easy to forget that many 'skinny' models are, in fact, healthy in body and mind. Many are just utilizing their natural build, which is why the industry will always struggle to assess every model's 'well-being' and/or their level of positive self-image." [Awearness]