Fashion

France Makes It Official: Magazines Have To Declare Retouched Images

France has passed a law that requires “photographie retouchée” (or “retouched photograph”) to be declared in ads, catalogs, magazines and the like.

Photo: Nerdprint

Starting October 1 2017, the law states that if the retouching “has changed the physical appearance of models,” the publication will have to declare as such.

According to Dazed, the law was originally passed a year ago, and is only being put to action now. “Exposing young people to normative and unrealistic images of bodies leads to a sense of self-depreciation and poor self-esteem,” said French Social Affairs and Health Minister Marisol Touraine in a statement to WWD.

Any publication that doesn’t declare their retouched photos will be fined up to €37,000 (approx. S$56,890) starting October 1.

Additionally, model agencies that represent unhealthy models can potentially be fined up to €75,000 (approx. S$115,323) and even be sentenced to prison.

In additional, models in France will have to undergo a medical exam once every two years. They will also need to acquire a medical certificate as proof that they are healthy enough to work. Special attention will be given to the models’ Body Mass Index (BMI).

Advertisement
Scroll to continue with content

According to the World Healthy Organisation, a person is considered underweight if their BMI is below 18.5, and seriously underweight if it is below 16.

Source: The Fashion Law

Read More: YouTube Wants to Make Free Original Shows Too

Staff

Share
Published by
Staff