Models form rights group ahead of Fashion Week

Video: Age, weight crackdowns for models

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   >>> back now at 7:43. it is fashion week in new york city , a chance for designers to show off their clothing lines. nbc's craig melvin is on new york's upper west side . good morning.

   >> reporter: ann, good morning to you. too young and too skinny. those are the complaints that have led to changes here at fashion week. things are supposed to be different this year. some say the guidelines don't go far enough. fashion fans who crowd the catwalks see glitz and glamour . that's not all sarah saw in the 1990s . at age 14.

   >> the fashion industry is a grown-up business with grown-up pressures and kids shouldn't be subject to that.

   >> preteen models are making headlines. last month cindy crawford 's daughter became the face of versace at ten. another 10-year-old on the cover of french vogue.

   >> think of our standard of beauty. not filled into a womanly form. that's prepew besent girls.

   >> reporter: the group has updated guidelines and recommends an i.d. check to be sure models are at least 16 the day of a show. the council has not changed guidelines addressing skinny models . the industry has been grappling with the issue sins anna karanina's death in 2006 . a year later the council encouraged models who may have an eating disorder to get help. the national eating disorders association wants mandatory screenings for models like drug screenings for athletes.

   >> we know eating disorders , the average onset is in adolescence and young adults . obviously in the modeling industry a disproportionate number of models are in that demographic.

   >> one friend of mine was told by her agency to only eat one rice cake a day to keep her weight down and if that didn't work, half a rice cake . this is insane.

   >> reporter: that's partly why the 29-year-old run as group to improve working conditions for models. she's still a cover girl. new york magazine declared her the norma rae of the runway. there are also new guidelines that ban smoking backstage at shows and also prohibit alcohol backstage as well. one of the complaints is these are guidelines from the council of fashion designers of america and the group doesn't have enforcement power. ann?

   >> all right. sounds like this will continue. craig, thank you so much.

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