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When Imani Int Model Management was incorporated in 2004, I thought that the ‘size zero craze’ was only a problem in the Western countries, due to the pressure within the international fashion industry. However, it was not until I came back to home, that I realized that the ‘Size zero craze’ also lingers within Africa; Kenya, and not only among the models, but also among the ‘wanabees’. So many girls are actually suffering from eating disorders, and some have even resorted to drugs, right here in Kenya, in the name of staying thin.
My motivation
As I spent more time with the models, I started to notice a few habits. Besides a few other issues amongst the models, some of the female models who were already so skinny never ate. Sometimes I would cater for food, and some models would not eat anything the whole day. As we continued with routine, 2 of my models one day opened up to me and confessed that they were on drugs, and were trying to make sure they did not gain a pound. One of the female models also came up to me and showed me her arms, which were full of syringe marks, from a drug she had been taking for a while. She said her boyfriend did not want her gaining an ounce of fat, so he hooked her up on that stuff and before she knew it, she was hooked on it.
The question then becomes; what is happening to our young girls in Kenya and why?
If you ask me, I will tell you that there is definitely a lot of pressure in this Kenyan fashion industry; one that is driven by other forces.
The models in NYC may be going through pressure due to too much work and high expectations from the industry as they get called for different gigs by different clients every day. Whereas, the models in Kenya seem to be going through pressure based on the fact that they also want to fit into the typical model lifestyle portrayed through media, but they can’t, because there is hardly any money made from that industry locally, leave alone the demand for models due to work! However, despite that fact, girls are still starving themselves to death. Akinyi, one of the models who applied to my agency and got rejected due to her weight has now lost so much weight and came back to check with me at the agency if I could sign her up 6 months later. I must admit that I was shocked at her drastic weight loss, and when I inquired further, she had actually been starving. This condition is what I refer to as anorexia in the early stages, which, if left unattended, could lead to death.
The models and all the young girls who aspire to be models are involved in this ‘size zero craze,’ which puts my interests, as well as the community’s interests at stake. Parents, guardians, relatives and friends begin wondering if this is the industry for their young girls, not realizing that this is a misconception of my intentions for the industry here at home in Nairobi. The girls may starve to death, but I am trying to let the world know that this was never the intention. I have therefore given the models time to reflect, explore their options, make decisions and grow. However, anorexia most commonly, still lingers amongst many models, in the name of “staying thin.” My motivation
By the time I incorporated a modeling agency, I had already gone through some of the challenges within the modeling industry myself, as a model, such as anorexia. Therefore I did not want to just watch the models I was representing go through the same problem. So other than waiting on them to run across someone who could empower them, I took responsibility within my capacity and based on my past experience to ban the ‘size zero models.' Looking back, that step has definitely reduced the eating disorder and drug cases lingering amongst the models I represent today.
At this point, I envisioned empowerment that would enable positive change through campaigns such as the ‘ban against size zero models.' I figured that it may be a small start, but with time, it would start rubbing on to the victims, not only within Africa, but worldwide too.
As a model management group representing specific models, my strategy was to focus on getting the ‘other models' working more; on the flip side not focusing on the extremely skinny models (size zero models), then the ones who are dependent on drugs or anorexic, will be out of work and will be forced to eat normally or get out of drugs, in order to work again.
I believed that this would bring a balance eventually. However, this had to be a joint effort so that size zero models from all over the world would begin their recovery process.
I also realized that as much as I had something to fight against, the biggest challenge to be overcome in this campaign was the fact that there were other fashion industry authorities who would refuse to see the sense in this campaign, and therefore not support it,; Meaning, some models will be free and go through the recovery process, while others would continue to deal with the ‘size zero pressure.
As I had been running my campaign within my community, it seemed like there were other people who also felt the same way and began to fight for the same cause. By 2007, Italy had finally announced ban code of conduct to protect young models vulnerable to anorexia and exploitation. The move followed the ban slapped on the' skinny models' by Madrid government in Feb 2008; even asking models to carry a medical certificate showing they are healthy. The new code also aims to ban rogue, unlicensed modeling agencies that trap models into trading sex for hopes rarely fulfilled of a life in fashion.
Madrid fashion week also decided in response to local govt pressure to ban models with a body mass index (BMI) of less than 18.....as UN health experts recommend a BMI - a circulation based on height and weight of 18.5 - 25.
So I set out along with a few other health experts and a few industry professionals and continued to find ways through which we could publicly acknowledge that this was a big problem and find solutions, more models joined the death row, hoping they would get their breakthrough right after that.
Achieng's story
Achieng is one of the models I recruited from the streets of Nairobi in early 2007. She is very exotic and has a natural edge, and I therefore put her in every job I can get her on. When I met her, she was dating a guy from Chile who had her hooked on heroine. She called me one day and came to see me in my office crying for help. She said that she had been brought up in a family with good morals, but the world swallowed her. Her mother was dying from HIV/AIDS any minute and her dad, she said never existed. Since her boyfriend would hook her up every day, she slowly became dependant on the drug. By the time he was done with her and left her, she lost her mind. She went through several withdrawals but after a while, she realized that she was already hooked and was ready to do anything to get more of the drug. So within no time, she got in contact with a dealer and she began to get a fix in exchange for everything including sexual favors. Now she was really in trouble. It seems like there was nothing to live for anymore. Her routine was catching a bit of sleep in her pimp's house, then looking for a place to change and shower. On a good day she would eat, but on a bad day like many, by the time she was getting herself together, it would be time for her to hit the streets and sell her soul to the devil, just for a drug-fix the next day.
On and on life went by for this exotic, piece of art. She was not the Alec-Wek type, not the Naomi-type, not even the Iman-type of model; she could've been a combination of the three, but was just special! Black flawless skin, a tall, slender frame and a beautiful face to match. The moment I met her, I had to stop! But the moment I found out what was really going on around this African beauty, I froze for a minute. This was too serious, with no one really reaching out. When I asked her to go to the higher authorities to report the matter, she adamantly went a lot of persuasion from my end, but she got abused by the cops themselves and finally my argument was killed temporarily. "It doesn't really matter!" She says.
So after a while, I offered her a position in my agency that she did not have any qualifications for, just to keep her off the street. We made a deal, and she started coming in everyday. A lot of times, I had nothing for her to do, but we had to create something for her to do despite its existence or not. I paid her something small at the end of each day in condition that she went straight home and back to work the next day.
With time, she started to change, and started looking at life more positively. As she worked with me, I put her at the top.
One day she came to work and told me that she had got a job away from Kenya and that she wanted me to help her to leave. I was dismayed, I must admit because this felt like the biggest loss in my agency, but a big step ahead in life, and so I had to let her move on and continue to grow. 15 months later, I had to let this jewel go! I wished her well, I miss her still, but we communicate and I am happy because she is drug-free, happy, and more responsible and settled in life.
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