Is Supermodel Karolina Kurkova Too Fat?

Over the past couple of years I’ve been posting about the controversy over “Size-Zero” models—those wafer-thin mannequins who have caused much alarm in the media. The fashion industry made much noise about promoting a more healthy body image among models. But now there is a new controversy sweeping the Internet style pages. When supermodel Karoline Kurkova took to the catwalk for a recent Cia Maritima show in Brazil, she was ridiculed by fashionistas and the press for being too fat.
     I think the readers of this blog need to weigh in on this. (I’ve included front and back views of Kurkova in the show.) As photographers and photo enthusiasts, do you consider this body too fat?
     Ironically, it was in Brazil that the “Size-Zero” story started. In 2006 Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston, 21, died of anorexia after eating a diet of apples and tomatoes for several months. Following her death, governments in Europe threatened to pass laws forbidding the use of too-thin models. –David Schonauer

Comments

[fatty fatgirl]

Uh yeah cottage cheese no good. I wouldnt buy that suit...

[JohnO]

Ghad, get that a girl some food stat!

She still looks way too thin.

[jason B]

nice post !! what does it have to do with photography, pervert.

[Grant Henninger]

This shouldn't be a discussion only about models being too fat or too thin. In these pictures it isn't that Karolina Kurkova is too fat, she simply doesn't look very fit. Models should be encouraged to portray a realistic and healthy body image, which definitely isn't one that's fat.

[Milena]

Hi. New visitor to your blog. Just finished reading the comments and I have to agree with Grant Henninger. The problem is not that she is fat because she isn't. She's just not fit enough to be modeling that itsy bitsy tanga. Her bottom is most definitely not flattered by it.

[Bob]

She isn't fat, but it might help her modeling if she rode the bike at the gym for a while.

[David Schonauer]

I think this blog can be fairly wide-ranging in its definition of photo news and issues. I really do believe that photographers and photo enthusiasts are uniquely interesting because their own interests are so broad--world events, culture, art...and fashion. The fashion world is a part of the photo world, and the controversy over Size-Zero models is a issue in the fashion world. And its an issue that photographers who shoot fashion and beauty must face. So that's why I posted this one. And it seems to be generating quite a few comments, so apparently other people are interested too. The comments are pretty astute, I think.

[e-head]

I think her bottom looks absolutely fabulous in that suit.

[William]

She looks fine with me. Have her call me. We'll set up a shoot.

[anne]

agree that she's too fat in that figure.. she need to have some diets..

[J. ANTONIO RODRIGUEZ]

KAROLINA LOOKS FABULOUS TO ME.

[Courtney]

I think she has a fabulous body.
The suit is what ruins it.

All women know that there are different swimsuit styles for your body shape:
Apple Shape, Pear Shape, Athletic, Petite, and Hourglass.

She does not have the hourglass figure (which is what this swimsuit is obviously cut for) therefore, it does not look flattering.

The bottoms are simply too small for her frame.

Women are all shapes and sizes. Therefore, we need to find the right fit of swim wear to look flattering.

Karolina is beautiful in my opinion. :)

[yasmin]

fat?! she is nothing but healthy.
that is what i call a real woman.
they should model clothes on women like her more often where there not at risk of dying of starvation.

[JM]

Taking into consideration the obesity epidemic spreading through the nations, I say...if she's fat, then our obesity rates just sky rocketed.

Check the polls ladies and gentlement, the only people who find women of the modelling industries flattering are the designers themselves and the women watching them strut down the runways.

No man wants to grasp knee caps, femurs and elbow bones, they want flesh. Karoline has the perfect body of a volleyball player, she's fit. But, as any other woman she's probably telling herself she could lose a good five pounds. As for the "cottage cheese" comment...I don't see it, at all? The skin has elasticity, it has to be flexible to allow movement, if she had cellulite you would see it on the leg placed in the foreground, which you don't.

Perhaps to the modelling world her frame is too large, but it's just a fad and it will pass sooner or later. Healthy bodies are in, and the Ethiopia trend is beginning to settle.

On another note, there are people in the world who are naturally thin, this does not mean they should be penalized for their inability to gain a healthy weight, bodies are built differently. Personally, I believe the modelling industry is a joke, Different clothes are mean't for different body types.
Therefore, modelling agencies should have models of all different sizes, but don't get me wrong, I don't want to see a fat pig strutting down the runway in a mini and stilettos, there's a line.

[j hill]

karolina looks just fine. in fact she looks like a real woman to me. these skin and bone runway models can't be attractive to anyone except people who like the shape of prepubristic boys.

[j hill]

karolina looks just fine. in fact she looks like a real woman to me. these skin and bone runway models can't be attractive to anyone except people who like the shape of prepubristic boys.

[dtali]

Yes...too fat for a model who is one of the top paid ($5 million a year) in her field to look fit, thin and "fabulous" in the designers clothes that she is hired to show on the runway. She is not paid to look like a "real" woman..that is why she is a super model.

[Zuzana]

Sad thing is, she has hypothyreosis. She's sick:-(

[KD]

Funnily enough, I have the same body as she has in these photos with the cellulite etc, my God I should be modelling that bikini and making the big bucks!!! I used to model, but even where I am now I want to be more fit. I'm surprised they let her model that bikini being less fit than usual. She's definitely not fat, but not in prime shape for bikini runway shows!

[Billie]

she is by no means fat!
she is a little out of shape though,
she needs some muscle tone, especially in the butt checks :)

[Gayle]

This is clearly a very beautiful woman who has a fantastic body, but that is what one expects from a model. I read a lot of comments saying that the suit is a bad fit for her...but the point of being a model is looking good in whatever you are told to wear.
So I can see why the 'fashion community' would have a problem with the way she looks in that suit...they pay for perfection and expect it.

[Meg]

I love how people assume that just because you have more weight on you, you never work out or aren't physically fit. Plenty of girls who work out everyday and eat healthy still just naturally have a bit of chubbiness that would require famine to get rid of. The modeling idustry needs to show a wide variety of bodies because everyones body will look different even if they have the same lifestyle. And for the person that said "I wouldn't buy that suit" because of how the model looks. WOW. So you only buy things that look good on other people? I think we have a candidate for the dumbass sheep of the year award.

[applebottoms]

wow! she looks sexy huh? and sexy! i love the way she carry the swim suit she really fits to that! nice post!

-sidney-

[G. Mazo]

No, she's definitely not fat, but I would say that she could be a little more toned. That being said, if she was just an average woman on the street, she'd be considered gorgeous. Perfect. But, since she's a model, she has to REALLY be perfect, whioch means no flabbiness of any sort, no matter where it is. She could probably get away with modelling something a little less revealing at her current fitness level, but to model swimsuits, she needs to be more toned. But fat? No way. If I were married to her, I'd tell her every day how beautiful she is.

[Rickmick Ha]

SHE'S SO FAT!

my cats hotter than that.

annd it has RABIES.