Don’t have the impression that the fashion industry is all about glamour, perfect looks, stylish clothing, beauty, and glitz. We see only the perfect looking models walking the catwalks in beautiful designer clothing, but we don’t know what secrets are hidden behind the bright spotlights. The more glamorous the show and the greater the smiles on the faces of the models, the more extended the crisis is. It’s no longer a secret that the drug culture grows together with the fashion industry, and it produces cracks in the beautifully painted lifestyles of the models and designers.
Drug culture in the fashion world
No one can deny that drug and alcohol abuse have infiltrated the fashion world a long time ago. The context in which substance abuse has grown in the fashion world is quite complicated. The causes leading to substance abuse are diverse, from the challenging competition models and designers face, to the pressure models experience to look amazing no matter the circumstances and their personal lives, and to the exhausting working hours tailors have to spend to create the perfect clothing items.
When you say fashion industry, you say a world ruled by great pressure, a pressure that sits on the shoulders of the models who are making in-human efforts to get successful. Sophie Anderson, a model who fought substance abuse for many years, stated that drugs and alcohol are highly accessible within the industry and once you start using them, it’s quite difficult to get clean. She believes that the best way to fight the addiction is to get into alcoholics rehab or to drug rehab, to follow a therapy that learns people to deal with the triggers and how to resist the temptation of relapsing. It’s the single solution that helped her to break her substance abuse, and to stay clean even if she continued to work in the same industry.
But, it’s wrong to say that the industry with all its faults is the main factor in determining people to choose to make an excess on substances. Calvin Klein states that availability is one of the main causes. Klein also affirms that job stress should not be seen as the only factor because many people have suffered from it, and used other ways to fight it. He thinks that people’s childhood and other factors that affect their lives are the ones to blame.
The fashion world puts great pressure on models
Even if Calvin Klein states that job stress should not be a factor that leads to substance abuse, the ones who experienced it find the extreme tension their work brings as a catalyst. During Fashion Weeks, a normal workday lasts for more than 12 hours. Both models and stylists are expected to perform at their best even if they are highly deprived of sleep. They use stimulant drugs to cope with the fatigue and stress, and to have an outstanding performance on the catwalk or in the photo studio.
The fashion world imposes models a double standard, they are expected to maintain a flawless appearance no matter what efforts they have to make. But if their employers and the public find out they are abusing on substances, their career is over. The designers who exploit the models, without considering the struggles they face will turn on them, for doing something that seems the only way to comply with the unhealthy, and unrealistic standards they impose. Kate Moss is a famous example, she was filmed using drugs in 2005, and she lost millions of dollars because companies like Burberry, Chanel, and H&M decided to terminate their contracts the instant they found out. The irony is that Kate Moss was the one who started the “heroin chic” movement. Designers have promoted for a long period her haunting appearance, with dark circles under the eyes, pale skin and thin body. Her look helped them sold countless clothing items, but when she was spotted actually using drugs, they couldn’t accept it.
The race of the model also influenced the way they are treated in the fashion world, and how it affects them. For example, models of colour have a better body image and less body dissatisfaction in comparison with Caucasian counterparts, and it is one of the reasons why white women are more likely to use drugs and alcohol.
Drugs and weight loss
A great number of models are using cocaine to lose weight so it’s no surprise that this drug holds a special place in the industry. Models use it to control their stress and to change their body’s metabolism because it helps them stay skinny, no matter what and how much they eat. They are working in an environment where body weight and shape are the main factors that decide the number of contracts they get. Sometimes a single kilo can play a life-turning role in getting the collaboration of their dream. So it’s understandable that they are willing to sacrifice their health to improve their look.
Cocaine has a direct effect on the central nervous system, it works like a stimulant that is promoting the release of dopamine and noradrenaline. Dopamine enhances the feeling of pleasure, and noradrenaline helps them stay focused in high-stress situations. This drug takes people into a state of euphoria, but it also boosts their blood pressure and heart rate. When using it people feel more confident, alert and courageous. Models regularly use it during important events like Fashion Weeks and designer presentations.
Models are also using cocaine to lose weight in a short period. Even if the drug makes the users eat more fatty foods and drink more alcohol, it also lowers the level of fat in the body. Statistics show that cocaine users have less fat mass than the persons who are not consuming it. Noradrenaline and dopamine are parts of the lipolysis process. Because lipolysis occurs faster than in the people who don’t abuse drugs, it causes fat loss.
The days of the “heroin chic” movement are in the past but the drug culture is still a part of the fashion industry, and designers worldwide have the role to change their standards to help models live a healthier life.
