All
  • All
  • Products
  • Articles
  • Videos
  • Galleries
  • Conversations
  • Social

Filippa Hamilton

Filippa Hamilton Goes On Air To Speak About Her Overly-Retouched Ralph Lauren Ad, Being Fired By Brand for Being "Too Fat"
Ralph Lauren

Filippa Hamilton Goes On Air To Speak About Her Overly-Retouched Ralph Lauren Ad, Being Fired By Brand for Being "Too Fat"

>>  Filippa Hamilton, the 23-year-old French model who has appeared in scads of Ralph Lauren ads since 2001, is at the center of quite the scandal for the brand.
by

>>  Filippa Hamilton, the 23-year-old French model who has appeared in scads of Ralph Lauren ads since 2001, is at the center of quite the scandal for the brand.  Her contract was renewed by Ralph Lauren at least four times until her employment was terminated in April — when the brand wrote her a letter, according to Hamilton. "They fired me because they said I was overweight and I couldn't fit in their clothes anymore."

Ralph Lauren confirmed last night that despite Filippa being a "beautiful and healthy" woman, the relationship ended "as a result of her inability to meet the obligations under her contract with us."  The 5-foot-8, 120-pound model, who appeared on the Today Show this morning — video here — says that her weight hadn't fluctuated since she started working for the company. 

But part of all the attention is coming because post-termination, a Ralph Lauren advertisement which ran only in Japan (below) turned up online — and portrays Hamilton with a much smaller body than head.  Earlier this month, after attempting to sue sites which had posted the image, Ralph Lauren issued a statement:

"For over 42 years we have built a brand based on quality and integrity. After further investigation, we have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman's body. We have addressed the problem and going forward will take every precaution to ensure that the caliber of our artwork represents our brand appropriately."

Hamilton relayed on the Today Show that she wasn't upset about the termination, but was when she saw the image.  As she told the New York Daily News this morning, "I was shocked to see that super skinny girl with my face. It's very sad, I think, that Ralph Lauren could do something like that."  She doesn't plan on suing the company, which said in last night's statement: "The image in question was mistakenly released and used in a department store in Japan and was not the approved image which ran in the U.S. We take full responsibility. This error has absolutely no connection to our relationship with Filippa Hamilton."

Gallery of Filippa's advertisement work for Ralph Lauren over the years below.

View 28 Photos
Say What? Size 2 Model Canned by Ralph Lauren
News

Say What? Size 2 Model Canned by Ralph Lauren

"I have been working with them since I was 15 years old, since I was a teenager.
by

"I have been working with them since I was 15 years old, since I was a teenager. So for me they were my second family . . . I was very hurt by this, and I don't think it's good . . . when young women look at this picture, they're going to think it's normal to look like that, but it's not."

— Filippa Hamilton on The Today Show, about being fired by Ralph Lauren in April for her "inability to meet obligations with us." Apparently, those obligations involved transforming her 5'8", 120-pound, size 2 body into bobble-headed alien proportions. (They told her agency she was too big for their clothes. Hmmm. What does that make the women who might buy Ralph Lauren clothes?) My response to this nonsense? Bring back the healthy models!

Ralph Lauren Rep Apologizes For Photoshopping Model
News

Ralph Lauren Rep Apologizes For Photoshopping Model

When controversy erupted over an image for Ralph Lauren's Blue Label — model Filippa Hamilton's body appeared to have been digitally retouched, so that she looked bobble-headed and emaciated — I was convinced that the image wasn't the original ad.
by

When controversy erupted over an image for Ralph Lauren's Blue Label — model Filippa Hamilton's body appeared to have been digitally retouched, so that she looked bobble-headed and emaciated — I was convinced that the image wasn't the original ad. I was sure that it had been retouched by one of those "thinspirational" proanorexia blogs you hear about which feature models Photoshopped, so that they look like Holocaust victims.

Wow, was I wrong. A spokesperson for Ralph Lauren made this comment about the controversial image:

"For over 42 years, we have built a brand based on quality and integrity. After further investigation, we have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman’s body. We have addressed the problem and going forward will take every precaution to ensure that the caliber of our artwork represents our brand appropriately."

Website Boing Boing was first to criticize the image by saying, "Dude, her head's bigger than her pelvis." When Ralph Lauren asked them to take the image down, claiming copyright infringement, they refused, citing fair use laws that that allow for the reproduction of images "for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting."

Maybe this will be a message to the cabal of Photoshoppers gone wild who don't seem to recognize that they're contributing to the unrealistic body images that make normal women feel inadequate. When an uberthin model isn't thin enough for the fashion industry, something is seriously wrong.