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"Out of several drug cases I have dealt with, four, have happened to be Female models." Says Dr Max Okonji, a psychiatrist specialist in Nairobi, Kenya who in 2006 I went to seek help from with regard to the drug-related issues prevalent within some of my Kenyan models.
He reffered to the modeling industry as a highly stressful industry and adamantly stated that these models actually indulged in drugs as a way to reduce stress, such as alcohol, cigarettes, canapés (bhang), which gives you confidence, heroine-white sugar (not injectable but chasing type).
One could say that I may have under estimated the pressures within the modeling industry in Africa. However, as much as the modeling industry locally is not too busy for most part, the type of pressures the models here face is different from the pressure faced in high-fashion cities such as Paris, NYC, Milano, London etc
While the models in the big fashion cities struggle to put up with all the work/shows/gigs that have been assigned to them as well as maintaining their weight and size to continue working, the models in Africa (Kenya) go through pressure as they struggle to live the lives similar to that of the "Models" based on the media presents. It's a little fantasy world!
"The ‘ideal model' is who I want to be," Says Akinyi, one of the local models signed with Imani Int Model Management in Nairobi, Kenya.
Modeling is a profession that exists everywhere, but Kenya is still not a high-fashion fashion/model-conscious city enough to have it such a big deal as in cities such as NYC, Paris, Milan, London etc. Not just yet. So I slowly realized that it may be reality for a model somewhere in another part of the world like Paris to live an extravagant - model lifestyle, but it may not be reality for another model in another part of this world like Kenya to live that same model lifestyle.
I believe that this is one of the biggest pressures, as the models get into the modeling industry with expectations of making it so big and living like other models that they have idolized, when in actual sense, every case is unique.
Dr Okonji believes that what builds stress amongst the models within the local modeling industry is the fact that;
"You're up high and then down. It is as if some things in the modeling industry are supposed to be the norm, if you don't do it, then you will feel like you don't belong!" "Everything is just offered; the expectation of living like the models, getting signed by the agency etc. The pressure is not more on the shows or work, but is more on finding agencies that can represent them and find them work.
The biggest thing, he says, is the culture of the models, which is based on what's in the mind. And what the potential models see and hear from media.
So while the high-fashion models in Milan are on drugs due to pressure from the ever-stressful industry, some models represented by an agency in Kenya are on drugs as well, only this time, due to pressure of wanting to be like the models in the other High-fashion cities in the world. So at the end of the day, both models; the European model, and the African model are going through different pressures, that eventually drive them to the same extremities of drug indulgence, anorexia, bulimia etc.
Dr Max Okonji also had an opportunity to share with me about a paper he did years back on the topic ‘anorexia nervosa'. They put aside a Vogue magazine to see what the magazine portrayed as beauty; in the 60's the beautiful woman was big...and now grows smaller and smaller as the years go by...up to date" However, he recommends a healthy lifestyle, exercise and lots of counseling. As I recommend ‘Coke Light,' as it's better than crack!
Did I mention Coke Light?
Yes, sometimes known as diet coke is a sugar-free soft drink produced and distributed by the Coca-Cola Company. Diet coke and diet Pepsi have capitalized on the markets of people who require low sugar regimes, and people who are concerned with low calorie intake. Not sure how fast it would kill, but I believe it is a better alternative.
So the next question is: Can we help fight this drug abuse and eating disorders together as a fashion industry? Considering this is a world problem, does the whole fashion industry feel the same way about this problem? So much for my size zero model campaign!
While some of the industry people try to find solutions to this drug spell prevalent within the fashion industry? What are the others doing?
What about Howard Marks, the Oxford educated, one-time major drug baron-turned-bestseller promoting the theory that drug use should be accepted and legalized through his books? Mr. Nice and The Howard Marks Book of Dope Stories?
What about Designers like Calvin Klein?
"In 1995 Klein presented young models as pubescent teens in sexually proactive poses. Then a couple of years later, in a campaign to promote his unisex fragrances cKl and cK, he downplayed glamour by using models of less-than-stunning appearance. Then during that spring his ads went one step further, importing from Europe a look known as "Trainspotting," the Scottish movie about heroin addiction. Nervous, seedy models who look more strung-out from fashion spreads in Elle and Vogue and details."
So was it justifiable then to say that Klein's ads make drug use appealing to the young? Or is this just another gimmick to make people buy his clothing and fragrances?
According to a 1996 Partnership for a Drug-Free America report, teen-age heroin users had increased drug use among teens. A lot of prominent fashion industry people I have worked with insist that drug use is such an integral part of the fashion industry and that it is synonymous with high power glamour lifestyle. Yes, it is no secret that recent highly-publicized events surrounding well-known supermodels and public drug usage has confirmed what every fashion insider already knows: cocaine abuse exists in the fashion industry at every level, from the glamorous catwalks to exotic photo shoots.
However, this is not necessarily just recreational drug use. It is drug use with an end-game in mind - to stay thin, whatever the costs. Essentially they are using narcotics in order to compete within their profession - much like a truck driver might do in order to stay up all night and thereby make more deliveries.
Truth, there is enormous pressure within the fashion/modeling industry to stay thin. These pressures have quite clearly lent themselves to even requiring the models to take substances well-known for suppressing appetite as a side-effect. In this way, the harmful medical side-effects of a recreational drug are seen as the benefit. This change of focus results then in a somewhat new trend: the eating disorder as a creation of drug use.
Anna, one of my model friends based in New York has been on cocaine drugs for years of modeling, she says it has helped her a lot, but again, it has killed her. Now she doesn't get calls for jobs from her agency anymore, and she has finally decided to seek professional help at Cirque Lodge.
"At Cirque Lodge, they treat individuals that are dealing with dual-diagnosis and need the privacy of the mountains and the confidentiality that they are known for world-wide. The professional staff, both at the Lodge and Studio, working directly with women's issues has experience in both chemical addiction and the treatment of eating disorders. They accommodate the individualized needs of those dealing with these deadly addictions allowing for a recovery model that addresses both the primary and secondary disease concurrently.
Unfortunately, there are many people who, for the sake of business and image, will stop at nothing to exploit beautiful young women. Worse still is the connection these young women then have with the everyday women and girls who read the magazines and sees the commercials. Cocaine becomes methodology - cocaine becomes a tool.
While runway models may strut down the catwalk with confidence, a lot of them resort to cocaine as yet another device to help control self-doubt and boost self-esteem. Are young women readers any different? Will they not see cocaine as a way to improve their own negative self-image? It not only raises their ego by virtue of the narcotic effect, but the resultant weight loss is then viewed as an added bonus. In truth, the lack of sleep and proper nutrition that comes with an addiction creates lifelong problems - not to mention the social and financial burden that comes with being an addict.
Time at the top of the fashion industry is not a long one. Many models rely on cocaine to keep weight off in a brutal trade that will not forgive aging or natural weight progression. Understanding this motivation can help us see why all these young people especially the girls are turning to the drug as a weapon against pressure - from peers, from the opposite sex and from the media.
"Fashion is like a rock-n-roll," said a Turkish fashion designer. "Can you imagine rock-n-roll without drugs? Fashion is a bit like that. A lot of the creative industries thrive on drugs because of their power to give a surreal dimension to things."
"As the world's most glamorous people fly in for the start of London Fashion Week today, Cole Moreton, Katy Guest and Stephen Khan reveal why Marilyn Moss being caught taking drugs has made the entire industry feel very nervous indeed,"source 18th Dec 2005
One may think that Moss would go down after all this controversy. But fashion expert James Sherwood, who spent time with the biggest names in fashion for the book and documentary Models Close Up affirms that it is unlikely for her to lose her contracts.
"Companies want Marilyn Moss for the whiff of danger. If she overdoses then so much the better, she will be an icon. I'd have thought it would have made her even more of a commodity. With Burberry she could be in trouble: it's quite wholesome." He adds.
Generally, the international, fashion industry claims that many models, internationally, need a "fix' to give them a high that, in many cases would push up their performance level.
"Drugs have been used by fashion designers and models right from day one," said an international stylist," "Usually, everyone in the fraternity knows who is doing what. I know exactly which fashion designer likes what and vice-versa, there is nothing hidden."
"Every top world model uses drugs," there is no other way for them to maintain that career as even their designers and agents encourage it," exclaimed an Italian fashion photographer.
"Only about 1 in 300, 000 models who compete for runway and high fashion modeling make it for many reasons, it is also rife with partying, drugs and other negatives. Some of the models who do make it have been lead down this road and are quickly dropped by their agencies, never to be heard from again."
"I don't see anything wrong with cocaine, I have been taking it for four years and I feel good!" Says an Italian runway model ‘Gabriella'
Cocaine is a strong stimulant drug which suppresses appetite and the net result of that is death; mentally or physically.
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