H&M's human heads on computer-generated models: the new beauty ideal?
BY: ZOSIA BIELSKI
The clothing store H&M is getting lots of heat for using cyborg bodies on their website to display their clothing products. It was discovered after one of H&M’s representatives told a Swedish newspaper, Aftonbladet. The process for creating the cyborg bodies is “[they] take pictures of the clothes on a doll that stands in the shop, and then create the human appearance with a program on [a] computer" Hacan Andersson stated. The result of this is getting mixed emotions and opinions. Every model has the same long skinny legs, perfectly shaped arms and doll like hands. People in the fashion industry say that this is used quite often and is completely normal, yet people who are not, feel very strongly that this is not right. Critics are saying that cyborg bodies are no worse than photoshopped bodies. A Ralph Lauren model, Filippa Hamilton was photoshopped so much that her hips were smaller than her head. Some say that if H&M is going to have virtual bodies, why not top it off with a virtual head to show it is not real. Many believe having cyborg and photoshopped bodies “set unrealistic and unhealthy ideals for women”. The bodies should be real so women don’t hope that they look like something that isn’t actually real. Academics have been pushing for a “Self-Esteem Act”. This bill would make companies have to state if the model is real or not or if the body has been photoshopped. I believe that all companies should use real human bodies and not Photoshop the images. H&M defended themselves by saying that their “clothes look better on cyborg models than actual humans”. If this is actually true then how do they expect real people to fit in their clothes if models can’t? The media is so bad already at portraying this perfect body that not many people have and people do drastic things to look like models in the media. For these individuals to find out that the “ideal” body they want isn’t real is horrible. The media should portray real women, not fake ones. Their goal and mission should be to show real beauty not the beauty they wish they had. I agree with the “Self-Esteem Act”, if companies are going to use fake bodies or change the shape of real models they should have to say directly what they have done. Clothing companies such as H&M should find models that relate to the clients that will be wearing their products, real humans perhaps!
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