Lily Collins Calls Out Sizing Standards in the Fashion Industry

Since the premiere of her Netflix film “To the Bone” last week, Lily Collins has been making rounds promoting body positivity. It makes sense considering the film follows the harrowing journey of a 20-year-old woman battling anorexia—a struggle Collins has also been vocal about facing herself.

And while the 28-year-old actress doesn’t take credit for opening up the conversation about eating disorders, she does think films like “To the Bone” are bringing the discussion to the forefront. One thing she doesn’t think is adding to the conversation is the fashion industry’s oftentimes unrealistic sizing standards.

MORE: Most People with Eating Disorders Don’t Look Like They Have Eating Disorders

While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Collins called out the American fashion industry for promoting unhealthy sizes among young models who are still maturing. She compared the standards to regulations in France which requires models to have a body mass index of at least 18 and a doctor’s note to walk the runway.

“But then you do watch fashion shows and you do see extremely small girls walking down the runway, and a lot of them are really young and haven’t become women yet,” she said. “It’s like their body shape hasn’t changed. Some girls look like they’re about to pass out. I think there’s still a conversation to be had there about runway sizes.”

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Along with the fashion industry, Collins also criticized the entertainment industry for glamorizing her weight loss for “To the Bone” in which she dropped to bone-revealing thin to play an anorexia patient.

“I hate that because you just don’t know if someone is struggling. I was a victim of that when I was losing the weight for this movie,” she said. “I was photographed looking a certain way, and all of a sudden it was like plastered everywhere, and I wasn’t allowed to talk about the movie yet.”

MORE: Lily Collins Opens Up About Her Eating Disorder And “To the Bone”

As for how she hopes societal weight standards can change, Collins sees public media forums shining light on diseases like anorexia and body dysmorphia as ways to highlight the discussion.  “I don’t think we are starting the conversation,” she said. “But we are making it louder, which is very important.”