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Wednesday 03 June 2015 3:12 am

Yves Saint Laurent ad banned over “unhealthily underweight” model by ASA

By: Lynsey Barber

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An advert for luxury fashion brand Yves Saint Lauren has been banned over its use of a model considered "unhealthily underweight".

The ad, which shows a model with thin legs posing on the floor and appeared in Elle magazine, has been banned by the ad regulator after concluding that it was irresponsible.

The ruling comes amid an increasing backlash against super-skinny models used by fashion brands in advertising campaigns and on catwalks which have been criticised for promoting unhealthy body images.

Yves Saint Laurent did not give a detailed response, but indicated it did not agree with the complaint, while Elle did not have any comment to make.

Here's the Advertising Standards Authority ruling in full.

"The ASA considered that the model’s pose and the particular lighting effect in the ad drew particular focus to the model’s chest, where her rib cage was visible and appeared prominent, and to her legs, where her thighs and knees appeared a similar width, and which looked very thin, particularly in light of her positioning and the contrast between the narrowness of her legs and her platform shoes. We therefore considered that the model appeared unhealthily underweight in the image and concluded that the ad was irresponsible."

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