Last week, Jaybird wrote about the incident involving a print ad for Ralph Lauren and the model Filippa Hamilton being photoshopped to a grotesque level. The ad only appeared in Japan, but through the magic of the interwebs, it became a global story about body image, modeling and a brand that is usually known for much healthier images of women. Ralph Lauren (the company, not the designer) made a lot of excuses and threats about the ad, but in the end, the company had to issue a half-assed apology.
Now the model at the center of the controversy is speaking out. Filippa Hamilton is telling the New York Daily News that she was fired in April because the powers that be at Ralph Lauren deemed her “overweight”. Try NYDN for a current image of how “overweight” she looks – it looks like she gained some weight in her bust, and that’s about it. Ralph Lauren’s statement about Filippa makes it sound like they technically fired her for violating her contract… probably by putting on a few pounds.
Ralph Lauren’s clothing company fired the model whose body looked emaciated in a touched-up ad because she weighed too much, the woman told the Daily News Tuesday.
Filippa Hamilton – whose hips appeared slimmer than her head in the recent altered ad – said her contract was terminated in April because she was too heavy.
“They fired me because they said I was overweight and I couldn’t fit in their clothes anymore,” she said.
The 5-foot-10, 120-pound stunner was amazed to see her body digitally distorted for Ralph Lauren Blue Label.
“I was shocked to see that super skinny girl with my face,” she told the Daily News. “It’s very sad, I think, that Ralph Lauren could do something like that.”
Hamilton, 23, worked for Ralph Lauren since about 2002 and considered the company like a second family – until she was bounced.
Then out of nowhere last week, the altered ad – which appeared only in Japan – caused a sensation and drew the ire of critics who thought it appeared sickly and unrealistic.
Polo Ralph Lauren said in a statement Tuesday night that Filippa is a “beautiful and healthy” woman but their relationship ended “as a result of her inability to meet the obligations under her contract with us.”
“The image in question was mistakenly released and used in a department store in Japan and was not the approved image which ran in the U.S. We take full responsibility,” the statement said. “This error has absolutely no connection to our relationship with Filippa Hamilton.”
Hamilton’s lawyer, Geoffrey Menin, said the image is “gross distortion of how she really looks and which we fear will be extremely damaging to her.”
Hamilton is concerned about its impact on the public.
“I think they owe American women an apology, a big apology,” she said. “I’m very proud of what I look like, and I think a role model should look healthy.”
[From the New York Daily News]
Well, the company did apologize. A Ralph Lauren spokesperson told the Daily Mail (via Huffington Post): “’For over 42 years, we have built a brand based on quality and integrity. After further investigation, we have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman’s body. We have addressed the problem and going forward will take every precaution to ensure that the calibre of our artwork represents our brand appropriately.” Of course, that isn’t really an “apology” to American women… or women in general, around the world. I do think Filippa is owed a better explanation for why she was fired – and Ralph Lauren should do a bigger mea culpa for this whole mess.
OMG!! She is HUGE!! Please, that girl is not anywhere near fat, or even normal weight for that matter! It’s no wonder kids are dieting younger and younger!! I wish they would use everyday woman in their ads!!
She def looks bigger in the recent picture. She isn’t fat by any means but her current look and body are more of a Maxim/Playboy style vs Vogue. Generally speaking, fashion models aren’t supposed to have more than a B cup because then clothes might end up looking too sexy when the goal is to just display them w/o adding sexual connotations. This is pretty common in modeling world by the way, the willowy teenager grows up to be a healthy beautiful woman who doesn’t resemble an androgynous boy anymore and so she is discarded in favor of the new androgynous body with a generic face. It’s a sick industry and it’s scary to think about the impact it has on all the little girls who are growing up.
He hates women, that’s clear.
5’10? 120? Normal??? I Dont Think So
Linda, I’ve come to the conclusion that MOST male designers do.
and a few female ones, too.
The only thing I can come up with that would make sense when it comes to a man being hateful or jealous of women is the fact we can carry life. Call it crazy but I have always thought the concept was always the one thing men could never get around. They can do all they can to be as female even a sex change- that really isnt a change . But no matter what they do under the knife or ho wmany horomones they take, they will never carry life. Or feel life grow inside- or change their skeletal and genetics.
What is such a shame is that she probably won’t realize how gorgeous she is right now, until she gets to 45 or 50 and looks back and realizes then, “Wow, why did I think I was so ugly?” I hope she doesn’t lower the bar for her own expectations for herself because of the RL treatment. Between that, and the fact that she’s only 23 and has been working with RL since 2002, I think it’s going to be hard for her to have a realistic perspective about herself and that’s too bad.
I think she is a beautiful girl and looked fabulous in the Lauren ads (except the photoshopped one, which was no fault of hers).
Ralph Lauren and Karl Lagerfeld need to get a room! They are made for each other!
What goes on everyday is real life.
You have to stand up & say something
for what is right.
I’ve protested my way out of several
jobs due to being subjected to
comments about weight. In 1 instance
a childless 4 year younger mployee
taunted f^t b^^ for around 30 minutes
at me. I have since lost 4 sizes.
Having worn a size 0 to a size 20..
something I have full on sympathy.
I was let go for referring to the
offender in passing as a flying rat.
(More apt has been sh^t floats.)
I have certainly never vented for
30 minutes about any topic while on
the job.
People stand up! If you don’t oppression
will sit on your life!!
i would not mind a “fat” looking girl like that in my life.:)
She looks normal and good.
@Lantana
what gave you the impression that she thinks she’s ugly? She never said that, or implied it otherwise.
I’m not worried about Filippa, though. She’s a stunner and she’ll get more work. It’s ridiculuous that they fired her for being “overweight.”
She doesn’t even really do runway.
Ralph Lauren will lose this PR war, and will lose a lot of money because they’ve alienated their female customers. I sure as heck won’t be buying any of their products.
She’s been the main face of RL for years. This is insane to dump her so publicly. I’ve always thought they hired her as a Brooke Shields a la 1980 look-a-like.
What’s weird is that Ralph L’s clothing always looks like it is meant for 50 year old women from the country club set…
She is stunning, I am sure her modeling career will continue. She looks more like a Victoria Secret model.
120 pounds at 5’10 means that she is quite underweight. This BMI of 17.2 is way less than the 18.5 regarded as being the lowest range of “normal/healthy”. Possibly she went from being 120 to close to 140, (BMI of around 20) which is healthy, but not ultra-thin. 130 would just put her in the normal zone.
Way to look after your model’s health Ralph Lauren! Betcha you won’t pay for her osteoporosis treatment in the future.
But size aside, the girl was probably getting too old, so with a more womanly physique and age they just didn’t renew her contract.
well at least we do know now that the add was def photoshopped. I would have worried for her if she would have been that paper thin in reality.
And for Ralph Lauren: ds, what kind of i*iot is doing their PR?
I’ll have to underweight my expenses for Ralph Lauren products going forward.
I am SICK of the way NORMAL women are now deemed fat. This is bullshit! She’s not in any way fat. But then again – what do I know; I’m just a fat mother eating in front of the tv!
here’s an idea, fashion industry: why not just do away with the real women and get skeletons to pose in your clothes? they’d be thin enough and you wouldn’t have to photoshop.
If those pics are current, I can almost guarantee you that she doesn’t weigh 140 lbs.
I’m 5’10 and weigh 140 lbs., and she’s way thinner than I am. But I have more muscle than she does.
Well, maybe now she’ll realize how stupid her job is and finally grow a brain and do something useful with her life.
Who cares what her weight is-she looks fantastic and is gorgeous. RL made a big mistake publishing that photo where people could get ahold it and firing her at the same time. They are going to get some serious backlash on that one.
She says in the other article that RL owes women a big apology-I agree.
OOOOhhhhh kay Bitterbetty: I read your comment after my comment above and wasn’t going to reply…but I gotta.
Why does this woman need to grow a brain? Because she’s a model?? Uhhh I modeled for over 10 years and I’m now a very successul writer, and I know Katyusha was a model, and she seems very intellegent…what are you getting at? Because she’s a model she has no brain? And why is modeling a stupid job? I’m so over the opinion that if someone is photogenic and works in the fashion industry, they are stupid. Studity is assuming that someone who works in the modeling industry is dumb or has no brain. Hey if you got it…own it.
HA! that’s what she gets for having a meal. How dare she! It’s obvious that she is not serious about her job since she engages in frivolous activities such as eating!
in all seriousness though, this girl is cute. I dunno why she’s not more famous than bunchkin (whatver the eff her name is). she never did it for me, but this girl has more character in her face.
Anyway, I’m still with bitterbetty on this one… maybe we can do away with models altogether and women can actually end up making a REAL contribution to society… :/
Pole: You and me both, sister!
I said it when Jaybird first reported it, and will say it again. Ralph Lauren is irrelevant- and let’s take a shot at that bat-shix crazy Karl lagerfeld too. Go ahead Ralph and karl, take your fashionistas and live in your insane stupid coke snorting, food free delusional photoshopped world. This 115 lb 5’4″ “fat ass american sitting on the couch eating crisps” with the disposable income in the five figures will buy something from someone else.
Maybe the drug addled brains of Mr. Lagerfeld and his bretheren won’t hear my message, but I guarantee the company investors will.
Bitterbetty, your name suits you fine.
Why ARE you bitter? Because Filippa can make a ton of money just for being beautiful?
You don’t know this girl from Adam, so for you (or anyone) to judge their intelligence is a bit silly.
She’s 5 feet 10 and 120. Thats not a healthy weight either. If anything she should be encouraged to be in her healthy weight range. She’s beautiful nonetheless.
Katyusha, yeah… what’s wrong with being a little bitter about that? I mean WHY is it that in our society you can just sit around and make tons of money while people who work their asses off can hardly make enough money to take a vacation. And when someone has the courage to bring that up we call them fat, ugly and whatever else comes to mind…
what’s wrong with seeing something wrong with this picture… you don’t think there’s something wrong with this picture? I do… men don’t make that much money from sitting around, doing nothing and having their cellulite counted… They actually have to work for a living. As a result, they have a much greater influence on the way society is shaped and formed… including what constitutes beauty in women…
Why is it that women don’t need to make a relevant contribution to society to make money? Why is it that men are the ones designing the clothes and calling the shots on what this young lady can and can’t eat and women have to settle for dancing to their ever whim… lest they gain a pound or two…
I’ll take the shots that come with this one and say it out loud… MODELS ARE USELESS!! Women need to have better roles in society… this isn’t power, it’s an illusion… ultimately, women are always in positions where they are being dictated to by men… long story short, I’m with Betty on this one… she should do something more useful with her life :/
I’m sorry, Katyusha. you’re right. this girl is obviously a genius. and a fatass.
fizXgirl314:
Where on here does anyone say a woman is fat or ugly because they make sterotypical remarks? I don’t see anyone saying that. I see some on here saying that just because a girl is pretty and makes money posing for photos that must not have a brain and is useless.
So you’re saying that a woman is usless unless her job has power? We can’t all cure cancer or be Oprah. What do you do for a living?
Are you familiar with Prada, Betsey Johnson, Vera Wang, Kate Spade, Donna Karan, Anna Sui? They are some of the most successful designers today and all are women.
And wow-you need to use your Google and look up male models…because they are a dime a dozen and probably work twice as hard as women models because they have to be very muscular. In the modeling world a male model is called a prop because they don’t get paid shit and are just space fillers for the woman in the photo.
@BitterBetty, she’s a well-educated member of Swedish Royalty (Countess Filippa Hamilton, btw), so I don’t think you have to worry about her “growing a brain and do something useful with her life.” I’d say she’s already got you beat, and then some 🙂
fizXgirl314 … MODELS ARE USELESS. Nice. Well spoken. Really. You should make that the title of your Doctorate Thesis.
Ralph Lauren (as a label) perpetuates the idea of thinness on a global level. Maybe he is a stingy designer, carping on about the cost of fabric. Who knows?
What I do know is that even way down here in Sydney, Australia, every Ralph Lauren boutique is staffed by thin women and when I say thin, I mean women who make other women feel out of place. But if a woman tries on a simple Lauren business shirt, she will realize that Ralph, like his contemporary, Calvin Klein, doesn’t believe in C cups.
Screw the idiotic concept of creativity, designers should be made to comply to some standard and regardless of their collective excuse, do, on some level, influence body image (whether for the good or, usually, the bad) by perpetuating the lifelong cycle of erratic self image. One year it’s all right to have curves, the magazines get in on the fad, then the next year it’s expressed as a disgusting way to be. How can this not warp self perception?
Oh she’s a member of Swedish Royalty and has all the money in the world to get the best education go to college and attend the best schools, actually learn something and contribute something positive to society yet, she chooses to be a model. Sounds like she’s real super intelligent. (Rolling eyes)
I’m sure she’s putting that royal education of hers to good use while peddling her Swedish Meatballs to the highest bidder.
@BitterBetty
Because I said you don’t know her from Adam does not imply that she is a genius. I’m saying just that: You don’t know her and thus have no clue whether she’s smart or stupid.
@FizXgirl
Well, I suppose you can be bitter. Have at it, actually. It’s just not an attractive trait.
And you saying models are useless is pretty relative. There are obviously people who find her useful and as a result, she makes a ton of money.
Women can and do make a contribution to society. They do all the time. If you have issues with beautiful people because they can make a ton of money at something you don’t think anything of, you should work that out with yourself.
Katyusha, stfu. nobody gives a crap.
Wow-I don’t know what you look like on the outside, but your shitty remarks higlight your ugly insides quite well.
Good rebuttle, BitterBetty, good rebuttle.
I know, right?
Lets play who gets the last word in.
She is naturally beautiful, even without makeup. Ralph Lauren is offensive to all women if he brands this woman “fat”. Disgusting & vile little man.
looooooooooool
I’m a physicist for a living and I already have a PhD… anyway, my point was that women BY FAR outnumber men in the fashion industry… and not as designers either… nobody said there aren’t any women contributing to society… stay on topic :/
Everytime I see that ad I see a preying mantis! But seriously, FH is beautiful and by no means fat. I can’t think of any reason why RL would have let her go. Both him and his buddy karl need to f**k off.
I’m a bit Johnny-come-lately to this discussion but I have to agree with Nicole: the (photoshopped) pic looks like a praying mantis!
And regarding the other, uglier fight going on here: I could never be a model. Don’t have the looks or any of the traits necessary to be one. They DO get good money and the job’s not necessarily rocket science, but how many of us are rocket scientists?!
Fact is, people don’t always get paid what they’re worth. I was sitting outside just now taking a smoke break while the cleaning lady was busy, relentlessly scrubbing away at the dirt. She has a back-breaking job but does not get paid a fraction of what I get. Yet I get to take regular smoke breaks. Not fair. The world’s not fair.
Bottom line: If you can’t do what a model can do, don’t complain. Their jobs aren’t easy either. They just make it seem that way, I suspect.
FizXgirl:
“Why is it that women don’t need to make a relevant contribution to society to make money?”<–you said this, I simply responded.
I never said there aren’t any women contributing to society.
BB:
Keep going, you’re brilliant 😉
I’m sick of models thinking they are more beautiful than everybody else. I’m not saying models are ugly most are at least attractive, but I havee seen many that have been down right ugly.
The reason they are models primarily is not because of their face, it’s because they are tall and thin. There are loads of beautiful girls with better faces than models but they are not going to be a model because they don’t have height or weight that fits the requirements.
I can understand Bitter Betty’s point and for being bitter. If someone is able to just make a load of money, be called beautiful(even though many are not) just because they are a model and fit a certain height and size range, it gets annoying and and makes women feel bad about themselves.
For the life of me I can’t understand why Giselle Bundchen is considered such a beauty. She has a narrow face, close together eyes,largish nose, even her body isn’t that great. Straight up down with plastered on fake tits. But because she’s been a sucessful model, so somehow she;s the most beautful? I think unattractive women relate to her.. Her name suits her because she looks like a Gizelle. She is attractive at best, if she wasn’t so tall and giselle like I wouldn’t even look twice at her. And she’s just one of many examples of models that are raved about and IMO really do not have outstanding faces. Many people can look awesome if you have professional photography and professional makeup artists on hand.
So Katyusha, Stop thinking you’re beautiful just because you were a model. That doesn’t mean anything. Be happy you were born with tall height and ultra thinness (genetics) so you could make a fortune off your physical characteristics.
For as catty and bitchy as this discussion is getting, it sounds like you could all be models.
@ stacy – LOL!
@What evs: “I’m sick of models thinking they are more beautiful than everybody else.”
What evs, I think that is YOUR misconception right there. I highly doubt that most models think they are more beautiful than everyone else. Even the most ‘beautiful’ women can be terribly insecure about their looks, and not think they are beautiful at all. All they know is, someone will pay them to paint up their faces and drape clothes on them. Oh, and pay them not to eat. So they do it.
No doubt there are some beautiful women who do feel superior, just as there are some unattractive women who feel superior. I go with the old saying, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” Don’t hate someone just because someone thinks they are beautiful. 😉
5’10” and 120 lbs and she’s “overweight”? I’m 5-6 and weigh 128 lbs, and if that girl is overweight, I’m morbidly obese.
These designers are freaking crazy. Why would they want somebody who looks like a concentration camp survivor modeling their clothes?