A model on the catwalk in 2005.

Britain's fashion industry launched an inquiry Monday aimed at establishing health guidelines for supermodels in the wake of an international controversy over super-skinny "size-zero" models.

Guidelines for British employers of catwalk models will be drawn up in time for London Fashion Week (LFW) in September to help them tackle "any material size-related health concerns," an inquiry spokesman said.

In examining steps to ensure the good health of LFW models and how to implement, enforce and assess the measures, panelists will study the approaches of other fashion capitals like New York, Paris, Milan and Madrid, he said.

The independent Model Health Inquiry -- composed of model managers, designers and supermodels -- will make recommendations that will not be binding but are likely to prove influential.

"I will certainly be surprised if having asked us to do this they (the fashion industry) do not seek to implement our proposals," said Baroness Denise Kingsmill, who is chairing the probe.

"It is time, in a way, for the fashion industry to grow up," she said.

"It is a real and a very important industry and the people working within it have to be taken seriously and have to be treated well.

"It is a very important part of the global economy," she said. "It is an important chunk of our leisure, retail and tourism industries."

The British Fashion Council, an industry body which organises London Fashion Week, had written to designers before a week of shows in February, asking them to use only healthy-looking models over 16 years old.

However, it has stopped short of following the lead of authorities in Italy and Spain by imposing a ban on the skinniest models.

在全世界興起的一股反對超瘦“0碼”模特的風潮后，英國時裝業于本周一開始了一項旨在為超級模特制定健康指南的調查研究。

調研小組發言人說，為英國模特制定的健康指南將于9月倫敦時裝周開幕之際出臺，以幫助模特們應對“任何與‘尺寸’有關的健康問題”。

他說，在研究如何保證倫敦時裝周模特們的健康及如何執行、實施和評估這些措施的過程中，調研小組成員將對紐約、巴黎、米蘭和馬德里等其它時裝都市所采用的方法進行調研。

由模特經理、設計師和超級模特組成的獨立“模特健康研究”小組將制定的這一指南不具有約束力，但可能會較有影響力。

調研小組組長巴羅妮斯·丹尼斯·金米爾說：“如果他們讓我們制定出這個指南后又不去執行，那我肯定會很驚訝的。”

她說：“時裝業應該有所‘成長’了。”

“這是一個活生生的、十分重要的行業，應該認真對待在這個行業工作的人，要善待她們。”

她說：“時裝業是全球經濟的重要組成部分。它是休閑、零售及旅游業中重要的一塊。”

主辦倫敦時裝周的行業組織英國時裝理事會在今年2月時裝周的前一周致信設計師，要求他們只能用那些16歲以上形象健康的模特。

然而，英國時裝理事會并沒有效仿意大利和西班牙的有關組織封殺過瘦模特的做法。