It has been slightly more than a year since Quebec-based clothing company Jacob announced it was finally time for a retailer to “take a stand on retouching”. It promised that beginning with its 2010 fall campaign, all of its brand including Jacob, Jacob Lingerie, Josef and Danz , will no longer retouch models to alter the shape of their bodies. The company issued a very clear press release detailing what would and would not be retouched on their models: anything changing the body of the models was to be discontinued, while digital enhancements to alter color tones, erase tattoos and scars, and fix other skin imperfections would still be applied.
This press release was issued less than a year following an infamous Photoshop disaster: Ralph Lauren’s outrageous shearing of Filippa Hamilton’s waist to the point that it was smaller than her head. The incident was even more shocking because Ralph Lauren at first didn’t even bother to admit the gravity of their mistakes. Instead, the company responded by filing a Digital Millennium Copyright Act against the websites which first alerted the public to their actions.
Model Fillipa Hamilton: Ralph Lauren ad (left), Actual (right)
In such an atmosphere, Jacob’s move was lauded by the media and public alike. But since then, how much closer are we to “reverse the trend in digital photo manipulation that has become excessive” in our society. We see no decline in the outrageous imagery telling us that we will never be thin enough – who can be when the standard of beauty is to slice off your curves.
Although Ralph Lauren has since apologized for their creations (and only under very heavy public pressure) they still continue to distort beautiful girls into wraithe-like creatures.
This has to stop. Fashion houses and clothing brands should not be proffering apologies for body shape reduction – they should be showing women that they can be beautiful in their clothes no matter what shape or size they are.
Jacob has shown that the unadulterated image is much more flattering and pleasing to the eye than the Photoshop monsters that have been previously gracing our media. Now, we need to step up and convince other retailers to do the same. What would they lose, except for a couple hundred dollars paid to photo editors for each retouch. And what would we gain? Only our completely lost sense of self-worth.
Wajiha Suboor
