A young woman who voiced her concerns about an image of a "too thin" model in a popular Auckland hair salon says she is criticising the salon, rather than the model.
Emma Clark, a communications student at AUT, said she was upset at the Ponsonby's salon for its choice of image in its advertisement.
"I want to make it clear that I'm not offending the model. I have nothing against her. The salon that chose that image is what upsets me."
The 20-year-old student raised on Facebook her concerns with Ponsonby's D&M Hair Design over a poster in its window featuring Kiwi model and former New Zealand's Next Top Model contestant, Danielle Hayes, looking "unhealthy and unwell".
Ms Clark said the image didn't portray a "healthy mindset for viewers" and promoted an unrealistic expectation of how women's bodies should look.
Her post has since received an array of comments from other users, some defending the model.
"I know you don't want to cause offence but publicly calling out someone and saying they look unwell because of their chest bones is pretty damn offensive, all bodies are beautiful and shooting down other girls to get your message across isn't very considerate at all," a user wrote.
Some praised Ms Clark for voicing her concerns about the negative message the poster could bring.
"Images such as this can fuel the fire of young peoples thoughts of inadequacy & for most this body shape is unachievable unless medically compromised. Please be mindful of this & take down the image. It really is not okay and there is nothing glamorous about striving for something unnatural for most," a user wrote.
Ms Clark had since seen images of Ms Hayes and acknowledged that she wasn't underweight.
"She might be a perfectly healthy girl. It's the salon that has portrayed her to look thin. It's the photoshopped image and the lighting that makes her look thinner and makes her bones stick out," she said.
Ms Clark has yet to hear from the hair salon, which surprised her.
The New Zealand Herald has since received a number of emails from readers concerned about the advertisement and from some who defended the salon's poster.
"I absolutely agree she is too thin. I have sat in traffic beside the image many times and wondered how healthy is she," one concerned reader wrote.
Another defended the poster, "I'm a 43 yr old female, mother of two stunning teenage girls and I believe the poster looks amazing. "Women need to stop the negative conversations about how other women look and be happy within their own bodies and stop judging others. The model in the poster looks fantastic she is owning it so what's wrong with that? I personally love it," she wrote.
Agency says image not altered
Hair salon D&M director Danny Pato denied Ms Hayes had an eating disorder and her weight was never an issue in past modelling shoots.
"Danielle does not have an eating disorder, and would not be on a model agencies' books if she did. She just happens to be naturally slim, as so many people in this world are. We are not all born the same, and that is part of life. We come in all shapes and sizes."
The salon is offering Ms Clark, the original Facebook poster, to be part of their next campaign.
"Danielle has modelled on catwalks and appeared in numerous fashion magazines around the world, and this has never been an issue before.
"We do not believe her image encourages or discourages people from being who they are, and would like to offer the person who brought this to the media's attention, to be part of our next campaign, to prove that we support all people, regardless of their size," he said.
Unique Model Management director Andrea Basile, who manages Ms Hayes, assured no that Photoshop was involved with the shoot.
"The way she was sitting made her possibly look skinnier than what she is," she said.
Ms Basile admitted Ms Hayes looked "quite thin" in the poster, but it was the way she was position in the photo that made her look skinny, she said.
She said the image had been outside the salon for a while and she didn't have an issue with it but understood "the general public could think she looks too thin".
She said the modelling industry was prone to scrutiny but "models had feelings too".
"It's gotta hurt. At the end of the day, she's a person as well."
It is unknown whether the hair salon would pull the poster.
- NZ Herald
