Yesterday Alex Perry sent model Cassi Van Den Dungen down the runway looking shockingly thin, unintentionally pouring fuel on the inevitable weight debate on day one of Fashion Week Australia. In a phone interview with Alex, the much-loved Australian designer admitted to a lack of judgement on his part, saying that when he saw the image of Australia’s Next Top Model star Cassi, he recoiled in horror.
Alex was resolute in his admission that this was not the image he wanted to project, saying he believes there was a lack of judgement on his part as he’s known Cassi for quite some time and has thus lost a sense of perspective on her weight. It wasn’t until he saw the photographs that he realised mother-of-two Cassi appears to be at an unhealthy, low weight and expressed that in using Alessandra Ambrosio, also a mother-of-two, to open his show, he had hoped to project the fit, healthy female ideal.
Marie Claire Editor Jackie Frank told The Daily Telegraph she was so shocked at Cassi’s appearance that she immediately called the 21-year-old’s agent. She said, “When I saw those legs, I nearly died. I rang the model agent and said ‘why is that girl walking down the runway when she’s clearly not healthy?”
Frank said the agent assured her the model was eating well, and that she knew as such because she was staying at her house.
As a result, Frank has urged others in the industry to speak out about these issues and put more pressure on the agencies to promote models with a healthy weight.
Cassi Van Den Dungan caused no shortage of controversy as a 16-year-old on Australia’s Next Top Model 2009, but was never called out for her weight. Since the show, she has been working internationally walking for brands like Miu Miu in Paris. It is thought the extra pressure of international runways and their cut-throat ideals has proved too much.
Update: On April 9, Alex Perry appeared on The Today Show in a candid interview. He said, “My sample range used to be a size 10, then a size 8, and now an 8 is a bit too big. So when they go to a magazine they need to be nipped in. Every time we have this conversation, I get dragged into it. I’m the most visible person. This time I’m at fault. Everybody needs to sit down and say what is the standard, this is the standard, and abide by that.”
Alex also stressed that, in order to solve the problem, the industry needs a shift from every side, “Everybody needs to get in this together. Everyone is complicit in this. You can’t say designers shouldn’t book those models… You know what, let’s say, model agencies shouldn’t have those models, magazines shouldn’t shoot those models, designers shouldn’t use those models.”
Watch the full interview below:
