Considering the amount that’s been written in the past week or so proclaiming that the day of the skinny model is over...and more womanly figures (and even, gasp, older models) are now in vogue...it’s a little surprising that very little has been said about a subject on the other end of the (pardon the expression) scale.

Yet shouldn’t we be equally, if not more, concerned about the allegations surrounding Prada’s Japanese stores; that a senior retail manager was asked to “eliminate” some 15 or so managerial staff because they were “old, fat, ugly, disgusting or not having the Prada look”? And that the manager herself, despite 18 years experience in the industry, was requested to change her hairstyle and lose weight in order to “fit in”.

If the catwalk is the shimmering dream, this is the stark reality; that knowledge and experience mean nothing without the ‘right’ look to go with them. As a woman, I’m enraged; more so that this could happen at a place that has a female designer at its helm. Despite all those words, we’re not more mature; we’re back in the playground, trying to be one of the popular girls and picking on those who aren’t.

The full story can be found here.