With their tall, thin, structures, mannequins are always cast in the image of what the fashion industry imagines to be the perfect body. The reality, however, is that very few people, if any at all, meet this impossible standard.
In an effort to remind passers-by that no one is perfect, Pro Infirmis, a Swiss organisation that campaigns for the disabled, cast a series of mannequins from moulds based on the bodies of a selection of people with physical disabilities.
One of the most striking elements about the resultant video is that many people who walked past the store in Zurich stopped to look at the mannequins, which in turn showed that something unique is far more capable of catching the attention of an onlooker than a cardboard cut-out based on a constructed idea of beauty.
While this video was made to draw attention to those who suffer from disabilities, it could just as easily be applied to representations of all women in the fashion industry.
Though representations in the media are improving, they still aren’t as good as they could be. Even in 2013, the same old stereotypes tend to let us down from time to time.
