BigShinyThing

This month super-slim model Niel Rasmussen complained in the Telegraph’s fashion supplement that he had become too hefty for Hedi Slimane’s Dior Homme vision. Slimane is arguably the most influential men’s fashion designer in the world - the legend being that fashion heavyweight Karl Lagerfeld slimmed down to fit into his designs. Rasmussen recalls:

I did four more shows for Hedi once he took over at Dior. He continued to refine his slim silhouette. Each time I did the show I was surrounded by new faces, and was surprised each coming season when he continued to book me. That is until one season I was summoned to the house of Dior the day before the show to try on an outfit. Hedi handed me a pair of trousers and I couldn’t pull them up over the knee. The thigh of the trousers was too skinny, even for me. My body hadn’t changed. I have always been considered very thin, being made very self-conscious of it as a child, one year wearing long-sleeve sweatshirts all the way through a sweltering Iowa summer. So far as I know, my weight hasn’t changed since I was 16. I am still 155lb with a 31in waist. His idea of the ideal man had simply gone beyond skinny.

According to Bernard Thomas, menswear buyer at Browns in London, “The skinny silhouette has spread into the mainstream. It has overtaken all of our brands.” This winter, Browns has sold more than 200 pairs of Dior Homme jeans.

Now Bon magazine are pushing a skeletal Ziggy Stardust wannabe waif and Stella McCartney’s shop mannequins have xylophone chests (pictured, and via Gawker).

Ouch.