Model-turned-actress Cara Delevingne expressed frustration with the intense standards of the fashion world this week. In an interview with WSJ Magazine , 22-year-old Delevingne revealed how the pressure to lose weight led to almost every aspect of her life being scrutinized in an upsetting attempt to monitor the star’s weight.
“It’s horrible living in a world where I’ll get a call from someone saying, ‘So-and-so says you were partying a lot and you were looking this way and you need to lose weight’”
Cara emphasises how skewed body image perception is in the fashion industry, a sad fact all too well known in everyday life. Increasingly, models such as Delevingne have been forced into tighter, more conforming boxes in order to regulate their appearance, leaving us today with a fashion industry that fails to promote healthy body and beauty standards.
“It makes me so angry. If you don’t want to hire me – don’t hire me.”
Delevingne received her first major modelling contract back in 2011, launching her to almost immediate stardom. Known for her iconic dark eyebrows, Cara has begun to move on from the fashion world and onto the silver screen. She has landed roles in both John Green’s novel adaptation Paper Towns , as well as the part of Enchantress in DC Comics Suicide Squad .
Cara explained how acting had always been a dream of hers, and how different the movie industry is from fashion.
“With acting, the last thing you do is try to look pretty. Modelling actually makes acting harder—it makes you so self-aware.”
Undergoing intense fight training for her upcoming role in super-villain movie Suicide Squad has left Delevingne feeling stronger and healthier than ever before – and not for losing weight. The star has reported feeling fitter and is taking better care of herself.
“I’ve never been so good”
Cara Delevingne is far from the first model to express distaste with the fashion industry’s invasive standards. Several big names, including Heidi Klum and Kate Upton , known for their flawless curves, have reported feeling the overbearing pressure to lose weight unnecessarily.
Unrealistic standards perpetuated by the fashion industry have resulted in an unstable and difficult climate for many women and young girls to live in. The attitude of these models, including Cara Delevingne, are the first steps in loosening the fashion industry’s choke hold on healthy, varied and representative beauty standards around the world.
[Image Credit: Daniel Jackson]