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Socially Irresponsible

December 19, 2011

As I was flipping through the latest issue of Fashion magazine, I stopped on a photo of one my favorite Canadian models, Coco Rocha.

She is the new face of JACOB and their winter campaign.

I noticed along the top of the photo a quote the read, “JACOB takes a stand: this model’s body has not been retouched”

What did this mean and what was the company implying? After all, this is Coco, one of the most sought after models in the world, hired for her perfection.

So I went to their website for answers, and this is the comment I found regarding the “Retouching” policy;

“The basis of the new “no retouching” policy is to promote an honest and realistic image of the female body. JACOB will no longer retouch the body shape of its models”

Are you bleeping kidding me?

You have taken one of the highest paid models in the world and now you’re telling me you are “promoting a realistic image of the female body“…

So what I am understanding is that all women are perfectly proportioned, are a size zero and have flawless skin… Oohhhhh I see, thanks for clearing that up!

If you want to be ‘realistic‘ you should try pulling a woman who is actually shopping in one of your stores to model for your brand. Don’t retouch them and then maybe I’ll buy into you being ‘Socially Responsible’!

You should be embarrassed, you make me sick!

Does this make any of my girl readers mad? Leave a comment…

Mr. Fab ‘d off!



  1. Yup… the whole “we love real bodies” this need only apply if it refers to bodies that most women possess. I have seen some pretty unnecessary and appalling touch ups – Katy Perry’s Rolling Stone cover where they basically trimmed an inch off everywhere or Aishwarya Rai’s skin lightening fiasco, but this isn’t exactly a valiant stand. Coco Rocha, bless her soul, is still a pale skinny girl and she probably doesn’t have to defend her body very often. As much as I HATE to give props to American Apparel, their porn stars models do have pretty natural, average physiques and as of late they’ve featured ladies who are probably more in the medium-large size range.

  2. Ummm, I have to disagree with Mr. Fab on this one… Jacob did sign Coco, but they did not retouch her (or so they claim). Other top fashion companies will get top models for their adds AND still retouch them. Also, Jacob has look books that can be found in store and on their site and the model in them is a girl I grew up with (an every day woman) and she is found in MANY more pictures than Coco. I applaud Jacob for taking a stand, in this competitive dog eat dog world of retail. Shame on YOU, Mr. Fab!! 🙂

  3. I appreciate all the honest feed back.
    But lets be realistic, you can’t applaude them for signing not re touching Coco as a ‘everyday person’… what would they even re-touch?

  4. Actually, they signed the no retouching policy before signing Coco. I believe they had Karine Vanasse and other celebrities before Coco, that all hadn’t been retouched. What would have been a good marketing move for them if you claim this one is not Fabulous (pun intended 🙂 ). I am a size 8 and I’m not too sure I would have been drawn to the stores if they had a campaign built around some random, not re-touched, size 8 woman, with little or no makeup… I mean, this is a fashion question, and I believe Jacob stood true to it’s word: having a non re-touched model who wears a realistic size.
    I still love your site Mr. Fab 🙂 !!

  5. As an average woman, I would be more drawn into a store that featured a size 8-10 model in clothes that make her look good. Nothing makes a girl wanna grab a bag of cookies & say f*** this like seeing a picture in the store window of a fabulous looking outfit, finding it in your size, trying it on only to look in the mirror and see what looks like Snooki in spandex staring back at you! The problem here is that Jacob is touting that because they don’t re-touch then they are showing the true face (and bosy) of the average North American woman which is false. Go ahead and showcase these stick-thin models but don’t try to claim that this is what is average…

    Now this is more socially responsible http://feelgoodstyle.com/2011/12/05/lizzie-miller/

  6. OH SNAP! I loathe this company. Every time I walk into their stores, their size 2 sales associates and their fake ass “hi there” makes me want to slap them. They are overpriced and for the past few years have the WORST quality ever. How are they still in the market? Go bankrupt already!

Looking forward to reading your comments!