Fashion World Needs Intervention

Now that heroin is no longer chic, how can we trust the fashion industry to find glamorous images that won’t threaten the well-being of the teens who emulate them?

The industry has a lousy record. Even before it began displaying drug-addled models slumped against walls, suggestions of needle marks on their arms, fashion photographers and editors were making spectacularly irresponsible decisions.

Throughout the ‘90s, the industry has peddled images of anorexia; Kate Moss may have been one of the few models who came by that figure naturally. Then there was Calvin Klein’s soft-kiddie-porn ad campaign. In 1995, the Justice Department decided not to prosecute Klein. His ads may not have been illegal, but they certainly were wrong.

Heroin chic appeared within the last three years, closely linked to the widespread use of the drug among the industry’s own photographers, models and stylists.

Magazine editors endorsed the strung-out look and rationalized their promotion of those images to a nation of kids. The photos didn’t depict heroin use, the editors coyly countered. They were simply an artistic attempt to counter the unrealistically beautiful look of the ‘80s and early ‘90s.

Last week, President Clinton said, “This is not about art; it’s about life and death. And glorifying death is not good for any society.”

It wasn’t until 20-year-old fashion photographer Davide Sorrenti died of an overdose in February that the fashion world began to come clean. Wearing guilt, no doubt in basic black, editors shifted to more upbeat images for their July issues.

Can an industry that has acted so irresponsibly in the past be trusted to make wiser choices in the future?

We hope the fashion industry will begin, as have the music and film industries, with interventions designed to combat drug abuse among its own. We hope it will examine the powerful, seductive force it has become in this culture and assume an appropriate level of responsibility.

Children who read these magazines may be too naive to fully comprehend the meaning behind the glossy photographs of dazed, hollow-eyed models. But their parents recognize signs of one of the darkest forms of self-destruction and shudder. They are the ones who can best organize boycotts of designer labels and cancel subscriptions of offending magazines.

It’s up to adults to exercise the discernment and the responsibility that children lack. If the fashion industry refuses to grow up, the society’s true adults must intervene.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Jamie Tobias Neely/For the editorial board