Polish fashion designer Ewa Minge is pushing back against the return of extreme thinness on the runway, warning that framing severe emaciation as a luxury aesthetic sends a dangerous signal to young audiences. Her remarks arrive amid renewed debate within the fashion community over body standards, historical runway ideals, and the boundaries separating artistic design from unhealthy physical expectations.
Haute Couture as a Visual Art Form
Slender silhouettes have remained a mainstay in high-end collections for decades. In the 1960s, British model Lesley Lawson—universally known as Twiggy—reshaped industry norms with her 168-centimeter height and androgynous proportions. Her measurements departed from the beauty standards of the era at 79–58–81 centimeters, featuring a boyish figure and short hair, while her nickname derived from a word meaning a small branch. Decades later, the 1990s cemented the era of the supermodel, propelling figures like Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, and Linda Evangelista to global icon status alongside Christy Turlington, Tatjana Patitz, and Claudia Schiffer, as the “big six” grew into true superstars and show-business icons rather than mere clothes hangers. Subsequent shifts in the 2000s brought experimental aesthetics, occasional controversies over thinness on the runway as women presented unhealthy standards, and brief movements toward body positivity that influenced major labels such as Victoria’s Secret, which featured athletic and slender angels in lavish underwear shows. Today, however, observers note a drift back toward exceedingly lean physiques.
Addressing this endurance, Minge explained that haute couture functions primarily as a visual art form. In creative design, she noted, precise proportions, clean lines, and movement dictate how garments communicate their stories. A tall, slender frame allows fabric to drape with lightness and gives structural designs room to breathe, positioning the model as an integral part of the creative medium rather than a mere clothes hanger. Bez niej ten poemat pozostaje jedynie zapisem na papierze,
she explained, noting that the model carries a kind of poem written by the designer in fabric through her gestures, gaze, and movements.
Drawing the Line on Physical Exhaustion
Despite defending the aesthetic demands of couture, Minge drew a strict line between natural slenderness and physical exhaustion. She voiced deep concern over the normalization of protruding bones and severe weight loss as markers of high fashion, cautioning that these portrayals risk undermining the self-esteem of impressionable young people. Nigdy nie powinna żądać od kobiety, aby w imię piękna poświęcała własne zdrowie,
the designer summarized.
Balancing Representation and Natural Builds
At the same time, the designer cautioned against the opposite extreme of stigmatizing individuals whose slender builds are entirely natural. Emphasizing that not every ethereal frame stems from starvation, she asserted that naturally thin women deserve representation on the runway alongside those with fuller figures. True beauty, she argued, transcends specific sizing parameters and exists wherever personality, physical form, and art align harmoniously, noting that beauty does not begin at size 32 or end at size 42.
The Eternal Tension of Industry Standards
The tension between artistic expression and public health responsibility has shadowed the fashion industry for generations. From the boyish figures of the mid-20th century to the powerhouse supermodels of the 1990s and the subsequent era of athletic runway aesthetics, shifting ideals have consistently tested how the public perceives body image.
