The Last Fashion Show

It's quite possible that Madrid, in its excessive zeal to protect the self-image of women and girls (their excuse) may end up killing the golden goose of the major fashion show that is the biggest event of that kind in Spain. Instead of the expected 300 models, only 68 showed up for the government mandated weight inspection. The nanny-statism run amok had dictated that models who did not meet the arbitrary height to weight ratio the government imposed would be barred from the runways. Of the 68 who showed up, five were turned away.

The show, known as the Pasarela Cibeles, had decided earlier this month not to allow women below a predetermined body mass index to parade down the catwalk.

Doctors Susana Monereo of Spain's National Endocrinology Society and Basilio Moreno, an obesity consultant at Gregorio Maranon Hospital, were among the specialists called on to medically assess the models.

Five of the 68 models who showed up for appraisal failed the test, the doctors said. The models were over 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighed less than 121.25 pounds, Monereo said.

"They had a body mass index below, well below, that which is considered normal not just by the Spanish endocrinology society, whom we represent, but also by the limits set by the World Health Organization," Monereo said.

Each model was allowed to appear at the examination accompanied by an agent and a representative from the fashion industry.

The show, which starts Monday and runs until Friday, wanted to project an image of beauty, elegance and health, and also banned makeup that makes models appear sickly, organizer Cuca Solana said.

"Clearly we don't want walking skeletons," Solana said.

Some well-known models had not gone to the examination, Solana said, but they were not identified.

Around 300 models originally were expected to apply for inclusion in the prestigious fashion event, but only 68 applied this year.

Solana said the rigorous pre-show test was not necessarily the cause for the downturn. One possibility was that model agencies may have chosen to send more models to other shows.

Last year's show drew protests from medical associations and women's advocacy groups because some of the models were positively bone-thin.

This time the Madrid regional government decided to pressure organizers to hire fuller-figured women as role models for young girls obsessed with being thin, Concha Guerra, deputy finance minister of the regional administration, said earlier this month.

Other politicians in Europe are jumping on this little bandwagon hoping to get a little free publicity. But consider for a moment what just happened. Instead of having enough models to present the event, 63 models will have to do every, single show that is planned. By the end of the week, they will be exhausted and will likely look it, meaning the later-scheduled designer's shows will have poor presentation. So why in the world would they want to come back next year? This is one of those blatantly stupid solutions in search of a problem that far too many politicians impose, "For your own good".

It may not be good for Madrid in the long run.