The fashion industry “should be concerned” by a trend back to using more skinny models, the editorial director of British Vogue has said.
Chioma Nnadi suggested the change, following recent progress in body diversity, had been partly fuelled by the rise in popularity of weight-loss drugs.
“I do think maybe perhaps Ozempic has something to do with it,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“We’re in this moment where we’re seeing the pendulum sort of swing back to skinny being ‘in’ and often these things are treated like a trend and we don’t want them to be.”
Asked by presenter Emma Barnett what was fuelling the trend, Nnadi said: “I don’t think we can pin it on any one thing.
“I do think that Ozempic has something to do with it because we’re seeing a lot of celebrities who are using it, and I think there’s this shift in the culture around how we think about our bodies and how we address our bodies.”
Nnadi said she thought it was “important that all bodies are represented” in fashion, adding that it was an issue she and her colleagues were mindful of.
“Thinking about the models that we can have in our [photo] shoots is very important,” she continued. “And it was very important that we included models who were not sample size.
“But I think it’s not something that we, as a magazine, can change on our own, because obviously the designers are making clothes that are sample size.”
Referring to last season’s fashion weeks, where designers showcase their new collections, Nnadi said: “I didn’t think there was enough representation as far as body diversity.
“And it felt almost like, at certain shows, the models were especially thin.
“Hopefully the season will be a wake-up call and it won’t be that we see that kind of negative trend [and] that we see that progress.”
Nnadi took over at the UK edition of Vogue last October, replacing the magazine’s previous editor Edward Enninful.
The job title was changed to head of editorial content when she joined, but Nnadi is still ultimately the most senior figure at the magazine.
Ozempic, which suppresses appetite, has become popular in the US in recent years and its use has been increasing in the UK.
