Yves Saint Laurent Advert Banned: Readers’ Distressed By The ‘Unhealthily Underweight’ Model’s ‘Too Thin’ Appearance

A Yves Saint Laurent advert has been banned because readers complained that the featured model appeared “unhealthily underweight” and far “too thin.”

The Yves Saint Laurent advert is featured in Elle magazine that, ironically, this month has two features entitled, “Meet The Fabulously Fit Size 18 Supermodel” and “Can A No-Diet Exercise Camp Get Results?”

The Daily Express reports that the black and white advert features a woman in a short black dress and high heels, complemented by startlingly stick-thin legs and an all too visible rib cage.

The Yves Saint Laurent model is lying on the floor with her eyes closed, leading many critics to suggest that the undernourished waif is too weak to move and perhaps in need of a good feed. Either that, or she’s lying in a state of meditation and contemplating Kate Moss’s words, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.”

The up-market fashion house was slammed by readers for featuring an “unhealthily underweight” model to market their wares, and concerned followers of fashion flocked to the Advertising Standards Association (ASA) to voice their concerns and air their grievances over the Yves Saint Laurent advert.

The ASA began an investigation and found that the lighting in the advert and the particular pose struck by the model drew attention to her prominent rib cage and legs. Adding that the Yves Saint Laurent model’s knees and legs also appeared very similar in width.

The ASA reached the conclusion that “the model appeared unhealthily underweight in the image” and ruled that the advert was “irresponsible.”

Although Yves Saint Laurent failed to provide a detailed respond, the ASA explained that the fashion house “indicated that they did not agree with the complainant’s view that the model was unhealthily thin.”

The advert has now been banned from being featured in U.K. publications.

[Image via Daily Express]