A leading Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos went down the catwalk last month to much applause from fashion gurus and celebrities .
She of course thought that her career was on a high.
The thin model has been told by her agency that she could "make it big" should she lose a lot of weight .
Therefore, for three months she just ate salads and greens, drinking only Diet Coke to get to that elusive ‘size zero’, that the fashion world so covets today.
A few minutes after stepping off the catwalk, she complained she felt unwell and dropped dead from heart failure. She was the ultimate fashion victim.
London Fashion Week kicks off today, the size zero model debate has escalated.
The question on everyone's lips is what Body Mass Index (BMI) the model has, not what the latest skirt is. BMI is calculated by taking a perspn's weight in kilogrammes and dividing it by their height in metres squared.
A BMI of 18.5 or below is classed as underweight by the World Health Organisation.
Madrid has placed a ban on catwalk shows using girls with a BMI below 18 (so a model 5ft 9in tall would need to weigh at least 8st 11lb to work. Milan 's Mayor is demanding a similar ban at shows in Italy .
This kind of move would also be very welcome in England, especially given record levels of anorexia and eating disorders, with 1 in 100 women suffering from such disorders.
There has been some speculation that London will follow suit. However, this does not appear to be the case.
Some designers as well as models are actually speaking out against the size 0 backlash.
Hilary Riva, British Fashion Council's (BFC) chief executive, organiser of London Fashion Week, was the first to refute claims about London following suit.
M&S is a major financial backer of London Fashion Week and one of its models, Erin O’Connor, is 6ft and weighs less than 9st. She would most likely fail the BMI minimum test herself.
Just a couple of designers, Nargess Gharani and Vanya Strok of Gharani Strok , have spoken out against using size 0 models.
