Allysa blogs

BERLIN, Germany – Brigitte, Germany’s most popular women’s magazine, says it’s to ditch using models in favor of what it calls “real women.”
“These will be women who are taking part in normal life,” says the magazine’s Chief Editor Brigitte Huber. “Women who have their own identity, a job and a name.”

No more full-page spreads then of super-skinny perfection. Instead, Brigitte’s inviting readers to send in their own photo applications and since the campaign launched on Monday, they’ve already received 600.

“Of course we’re still looking for attractive people,” Huber says, “but for women who’ve also got something to say.”

READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP...
Her photographers and scouts will also pick prospective “real-life models” from the street. All will get paid the same amount for a photo shoot as regular models do now.
“It’s not going to save us any money,” says Huber. “In fact, it’ll cost us more. Production costs will be higher as these girls won’t know how to pose for pictures in the same way professional models would.”

But she’s hoping the venture will pay off and that readers are ready to accept more true-to-life role models.

Earlier this year Vogue’s UK Editor complained to designers that they were providing such small sizes on photo shoots that the magazine was forced to employ girls “with jutting bones and no breasts or hips” to fit the clothes.

Last month U.S. fashion magazine Glamour magazine sparked a media storm by publishing an un-airbrushed photo of plus-size model Lizzie Miller complete with tummy fat.
Brigitte’s move adds to the recurring debate over whether size-zero models encourage eating disorders amongst women. But the catwalks remain dominated by the super-thin and designers still cut for small sizes.