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News > World News > Skinny Dutch model Ananda Marchildon fired for hips exceeding 90cm

Skinny Dutch model Ananda Marchildon fired for hips exceeding 90cm

Updated: 06 Feb 2012

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Controversy ... Ananda Marchildon. Photo: Next Top Model

A winner of Holland's Next Top Model is suing her agency for refusing to give her the full prize money because they say she is ''too fat''.

Ananda Marchildon said she had only received €10,000 ($12,260) of the €75,000 contract she was promised after winning the competition in 2008, aged 21. She was also stripped of her title.

The six-foot model claims she was sacked by Elite Model Management because her hips exceeded their maximum limit of 89.9 centimetres; the average European woman has 102.9-centimetre hips.

Ananda Marchildon, found "too fat" for the catwalk, is suing her former employers. Photo: www.mitraimages.com

Her lawyers argue the agency is obliged to work with Marchildon ''as she looked in the final'' rather than retrospectively forcing her to conform to their rules. The case has reignited a debate about the extent to which young women are expected to adhere to near-impossible physical standards.

Dieuwke Levinson-Arps, representing Marchildon, claims her client was told by a lawyer working for Elite that she was sacked because ''although she has a nice face, she has a fat arse'' and ''she never had it in her to become a top model because she was unsuitable for catwalk work''. She said Marchildon had ''no chance'' of having 89.9-centimetre hips, even with a strict diet and exercise regime. ''Already she was very skinny, almost anorexically skinny.'' Ms Levinson-Arps said.

Suing Elite for unfair dismissal, Marchildon wants them to pay out the remaining €65,000 she says she was promised for winning the show. Elite is contesting the claim.

Wikke Kootstra, a lawyer for Elite, said: ''It was impossible for Elite to find [Marchildon] modelling jobs since she wasn't in the required shape.''

Asked about a preferred hip measurement of 89.9 centimetres, Elite's counsel said: ''Couture clothing is made in one size only: (tres tres) petite. This is not something agencies can change. I imagine they would welcome such a change since it would make their job so much easier.''

A court judgment is expected next month.

SOURCE: smh.com.au

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