Coco Rocha compares treatment of models to child labour

Although model Coco Rocha has always been vocal about the size issue in the modeling industry, the 21-year-old Toronto native blogged her 883-word “uncensored point of view” yesterday after landing on the cover of the New York Daily News for, laughably, being too fat, which was followed by a flurry of outraged media coverage.

“I am still used and in demand as a model. In fact I find myself busier than ever,” she writes, curiously contradicting a quote she gave earlier to the New York Times that she’s “not in demand for the shows anymore.” She continues, “In the past few years, I have not gained an extreme amount of weight, only an inch here and there as any young woman coming out of her teenage years would.”

Rocha harshly criticizes the industry, comparing its use of excessively thin models to cigarettes and child labour.

There are certain moral decisions which seem like no brainers to us. For example, not employing children in sweatshops, and not increasing the addictiveness of cigarettes. When designers, stylists or agents push children to take measures that lead to anorexia or other health problems in order to remain in the business, they are asking the public to ignore their moral conscience in favour of the art.

Surprisingly, the model says being outspoken about the weight issue has actually boosted her career:

I actually first spoke out about this two years ago at the peak of what a model would consider the ideal career, and there was a reaction—those who were the worst offenders suddenly asked me to work for them! This was a public relations ploy and I wasn’t prepared to fall for that. I said, “No, let’s go a few seasons, let’s see if you change, then I will work with you.” They didn’t change. I haven’t worked for them.

Looks like publishers will soon be clamouring for the rights to Rocha’s inevitable tell-all memoir.

• My uncensored point of view [Oh So Coco]
• Model Coco Rocha lands NY Daily News cover…for being fat [Toronto Life]