The size-zero controversy eventually moved from editorials and petitions into legislation and corporate policy. Israel enacted a 2012 law requiring models to provide a physician's certification that their BMI was at least 18.5, while advertisements using digitally altered images had to carry an explanatory notice. The law divided the Israeli fashion industry: supporters described the steady reduction in typical model dress sizes as potentially a matter of 'death and life,' while critics called a single BMI threshold arbitrary and unsuitable for every individual model.
France later required models to obtain medical documentation concerning their health, including considerations of age, weight, and body shape. A subsequent industry charter backed by major luxury groups went further by committing participating companies to reject women below French size 34 and men below French size 44, approximately equivalent to a US size 0 for women. Italian labels including Prada, Versace, and Armani also agreed to self-regulatory restrictions and pledged to introduce larger sizes at shows. Kering and LVMH, whose portfolios included houses such as Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent, and Givenchy, presented their own charter as an attempt to improve models' working conditions and pressure the wider industry to follow. These measures were controversial because BMI and dress-size rules can oversimplify health, but they marked a lasting shift toward treating extreme thinness as an occupational and consumer-protection concern.
