>> Ali Michael recently went on The Today Show to talk about her struggles with weight as a model, and to promote an article on the same subject in the June/July 2008 issue of Teen Vogue, "Extreme Measures."
by philleif
>> Ali Michael recently went on The Today Show to talk about her struggles with weight as a model, and to promote an article on the same subject in the June/July 2008 issue of Teen Vogue, "Extreme Measures."
Within the article, she delves into more explicit detail about her eating habits — during last September's show season, she was eating "oatmeal with water for breakfast, a banana and a few grapes for lunch, and plain lettuce for dinner, maybe with piece of fish."
She lost her period, and "there was concern [her] ovaries had shut down." Her laxative use caused her digestive system to no longer function as it should, and now she has to take medication indefinitely. Even when she starting going to a nutritionist to improve her health, she was throwing up after meals in secret.
Finally, Ali "cracked" in January because the client who flew her in for a couture show canceled, saying she didn't have a "couture body." She focused on getting healthier and "put on a few pounds," but clients casting the February Paris shows told her she had "fat legs" and "huge ankles." She walked only one show — Yohji Yamamoto.
She says the Wall Street Journal article detailing her February show experience was a shock — she "never planned to go public." Surprising, since she is quoted in the WSJ article as saying of the Yamamoto show: "This show is special." But regardless, it will be interesting to see what happens with Ali and how the industry reacts, especially because she was so highly buzzed about before deciding to speak out.
*image: source
>> ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL —After speaking out about the pressures of modeling on The Today Show, many said Ali Michael would disappear from the industry. Here she is, in the Sportmax Fall 2008 campaign — it's not blue chip, but it's something. Apparently she's in New York right now, which only mean one thing: more potential work. [Fashionista, TFS]
