Victoria Beckham Draws Uproar Over Superthin Model in Ad Campaign

LONDON — The model in the latest Victoria Beckham eyewear advertising campaign looks young and waiflike, her twiglike limbs in a silken tunic and cotton-candy pink slacks, her face as full of sharp angles as the square-frame tortoiseshell spectacles perched on her nose.

The glossy image of the Lithuanian model Giedre Dukauskaite, published by Ms. Beckham on social media last week as she unveiled designs from her spring and summer 2018 eyewear range, has drawn a fierce public response. It is not the first time the fashion designer has been accused of promoting an unhealthy body image while advertising her luxury products, and is just the latest campaign to fan the perennial debate around when thin is too thin.

In a recent study the research and advocacy group Model Alliance conducted in conjunction with Harvard and Northeastern University, the results of which were published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, 81 percent of the models surveyed reported a body mass index of less than 18.5, which the World Health Organization considers underweight.

“Victoria Beckham’s shocking and shameful promotional image made me feel physically sick — but will have a far more damaging effect on many impressionable young girls who see it,” the writer and TV host Piers Morgan wrote in his Mail Online column on Monday. He went on to call Ms. Beckham a “shameless and dangerous hypocrite” who had pledged in the past not to use models who were too thin.

Hundreds of social media users agreed. Elena Mata Westerman commented on Ms. Beckham’s Facebook post, saying: “Eyes didn’t even notice the glasses. The model was the focus. Sickly skinny! Beckham should be ashamed promoting eating disorders. Her young daughter is heavier than her models. Shame.”

“Model used for Victoria Beckham’s new glasses range looks emaciated,” Veronique Landew wrote on Twitter. Not a great role model for women. It’s quite painful to look at.”

Although some people cautioned against body-shaming Ms. Dukauskaite, 29, calling for greater acceptance of all body shapes and sizes, the overwhelming majority voiced concern that fashion houses continue to encourage potentially hazardous behaviors by glamorizing models who are rail-thin.

Ms. Beckham, whose own weight has frequently come under public scrutiny, did not respond to requests for comment.

This latest outcry comes six months after the French Parliament published two new decrees aimed at protecting the health of models, preventing anorexia and promoting transparency around digitally retouched photographs. Models there need a doctor’s certificate to certify they are fit to work, and employers can be jailed or fined 75,000 euros, or about $91,500, if the rules are breached.

In September, the French luxury groups LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Kering unveiled a joint charter in which they committed not to use ultrathin or underage models, in response to criticism of how young women were portrayed and treated in the fashion world.

It also follows decisions by the Advertising Standards Authority of Britain to ban certain ads, such as a Gucci shot that depicted what was deemed an “unhealthily thin” young woman.