Karl Lagerfeld says only 'fat mummies' object to thin models

Karl Lagerfeld, the eccentric German fashion designer, has waded into the debate about size-zero models by stating that people prefer to look at "skinny models", and those who do not are "fat mummies".

Lagerfeld, 71, was reacting to the magazine Brigitte's announcement last week that it will in future use "ordinary, realistic" women rather than professional models in its photoshoots. He said the decision by Germany's most popular women's magazine was "absurd" and driven by overweight women who did not like to be reminded of their weight issues.

"These are fat mummies sitting with their bags of crisps in front of the television, saying that thin models are ugly," Lagerfeld said in an interview with Focus magazine. The creative director of the fashion house Chanel added that the world of fashion was all to do "with dreams and illusions, and no one wants to see round women".

Lagerfeld, who is known in the trade as a designer with a particular penchant for skinny models, adopted an almost emaciated look himself a few years ago, losing a lot of weight when he went on a strict low-carbohydrate diet. He has continued to share his diet tips over the years, stating: "I only like the things that I'm allowed to eat, so it's not like I have to avoid anything, which is how I don't put on weight."

He has also repeatedly defended the fashion world against claims that it encourages anorexia.

Three years ago in Berlin, the designer, known in the trade as King Karl and who sports a trademark upturned white collar and black leather gloves, created a stir by saying that it was psychological problems that caused models to be underweight, not pressure from the fashion industry.

"They aren't deliberately skinny because they want to be models, they've probably had family problems or suffered from other traumas," he said, adding that he had never seen any anorexic models himself, "only extremely slim ones".

The Hamburg fashion designer John Ribbe joined the debate, saying the row over underweight models had become hysterical. "It's just as much a cliché as saying that all models take drugs and get drunk at sex orgies," he said.

"Ninety per cent of them are quite normal, properly proportioned girls with less fat and more muscles who also eat pizzas and burgers."

Brigitte's editor, Andreas Lebert, said that after years of having to "fatten up" pictures of underweight models "with Photoshop", the magazine will produce its first edition with non-professional models on 2 January.

"We will show women that have their own identity – the 18-year-old A-level student, the company chairwoman, the musician, the footballer," he said. Lebert, who said the average weight of a model was "23% less" than that of a non-model, is calling for readers to sign up for photo sessions.

Brigitte's decision follows a recent appeal by British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman to major fashion houses to end the "size-zero" culture, and a scandal over a Ralph Lauren advertising campaign in which a model was "thinned down" using computer graphics.

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