Show sidesteps thin-model ban

Organizers of Britain's Fashion Week refused on Monday to explicitly ban ultra-thin runway models, although event organizers insisted that no size-zero women would be used in this week's shows.

The British Fashion Council, a consortium of major fashion retailers and publishers that oversees London's show, formed a task force to devise strategies to promote health and well-being among young women. The council's action sidesteps bans on the ultra-thin models that have been enacted at shows in Milan and Madrid.

"I think the general consensus was that the girls on the catwalk were looking healthy," said Caroline Rush, the council's spokeswoman.

Meanwhile, the organizers of Spain's top annual fashion show on Sunday rejected five of 69 fashion models as being too thin to appear in this year's event, acting on a decision to bar underweight women from the catwalk.