The picture of a naked and emaciated anorexia sufferer used by Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani in a new publicity campaign has drawn applause from the fashion world but anger from doctors.
The image of Isabelle Caro, a young French woman weighing only 31 kilos and resembling a concentration camp victim, appeared on Monday on billboards all over Italy and on the centre-fold of a top newspaper.
The campaign was paid for by Italian clothing company Flash & Partners to publicise a fashion brand for young women.
Riccardo Dalle Grave, head of an Italian association dealing with eating disorders, decried the use of a sick model for economic and publicity purposes.
"You can die from this disease," he said. "If they really want to prevent it, it would be better to help young women accept a variety of body measurements and understand that beauty comes in all sizes".
Dalle Grave admitted that shock images could spark useful discussion among the public but said talking about anorexia with likely victims often didn't help at all. It could even spark "self-destructive behaviour," he said.
Fabiola De Clercq, head of the ABA association for research into Anorexia and Bulimia, described Toscani's controversial photo as "excessively crude".
She agreed that it would not have the right effect on girls suffering from the illness. "They could feel envious of the anorexic model photographed in an ad and think that they too can get thinner. Done this way, this campaign has no sense," she said.
Corriere della Sera, Italy's top-selling newspaper, signalled its disapproval by refusing to publish the advert. It was instead carried by Corriere's main rival La Repubblica.
But the anorexia campaign also won wide praise, including clear support from the Italian health ministry.
The disturbing image of Isabelle Caro could "open an original channel for communication" and "encourage people to shoulder their responsibities in the area of anorexia," said Minister Livia Turco.
The publicity campaign was launched just as a week of fashion shows began in Milan. It was unclear whether the timing was deliberate.
The world of fashion is often fingered as one of the culprits in the pressure on women to be thin. But many of those applauding Toscani's initiative came from this very field.
Giorgio Armani said he thought such shocking imagery was "opportune" as a way of making people face up to the dangers of anorexia, which he said had little to do with models on catwalks.
"Anorexia has reasons which are not linked to fashion. Even people who take no notice of fashion get anorexic," he said.
Toscani himself agreed that anorexia was not caused by fashion. "It's a much wider phenonemon, involving all the media and TV in particular. Television offers young women absurd models for success".
Isabelle Caro, the model in the picture, recounts the family events which precipitated her slide into anorexia in an interview with Vanity Fair. She also said she saw exposing herself in this way as psychologically useful.
"I've hidden myself and covered myself for too long. Now I want to show myself fearlessly, even though I know my body arouses repugnance".
