Australian designer label Manning Cartell has responded to a complaint regarding a recent email marketing campaign, which claimed the models were unrealistically slim.
An email send-out by the designer label earlier this year depicted four images of a woman wearing a sleeveless short pink dress from the brand’s recent collection. The woman’s shoulders and upper torso are visible.
Manning Cartell shared a 300-word response to Australia’s Ad Standards, stating that the health, safety, and wellbeing of all individuals involved in its campaigns are top priorities. “All shoots are conducted in accordance with established industry health and safety standards for photoshoots, ensuring that talent and crew receive comprehensive catering, regular breaks, and attentive support to maintain their comfort, energy, and overall wellbeing throughout production,” Manning Cartell wrote.
The label added that it partners with globally recognised and highly respected modelling agencies that “uphold the highest professional and ethical standards” across the fashion industry.
On the imagery in question, the label noted it was created to showcase the design, construction, and fit of a new season garment. The garment, according to Manning Cartell, is deliberately tailored through the waist and chest and fits securely on the model.
“Lighting, styling, and composition were intentionally designed to emphasise fabric texture, silhouette, garment details, and the mood of the location,” the Sydney-born label explained. “High-contrast outdoor lighting in peak sunshine naturally creates shadows and highlights that define contours, which is a standard and widely accepted technique in fashion photography.
“The model featured is a healthy, professional working model, presented in a strong and confident manner. Her arms show natural definition and lean muscle tone.”
Manning Cartell added that its size range spans AU 4 to 18, and that the content across its digital channels includes women of diverse ages, races and body types.
“The imagery presented by Manning Cartell is consistent with contemporary fashion advertising standards across major publications, retail, and digital platforms,” the label concluded. “The fashion industry continues to evolve in its approach to representation. Manning Cartell remains committed to responsible marketing practices that balance artistic vision, brand integrity, and commercial objectives.”
In its review of the email marketing campaign, an Ad Standards community panel pointed out that section 2.6 of the Code does not require the use of ‘healthy weight’ models, as this term could exclude people in smaller or larger bodies from advertising and unnecessarily limit the portrayal of diversity in society. But it highlights that advertisers should take care to avoid images of people with extreme body weights or shapes that are unrealistic or unattainable.
Regarding the email advert in question, the panel pointed out that it was disseminated via email, which suggests that it might have been targeted at people who opted to receive updates about the advertiser’s products, and might expect to see models of varying size and body type.
The panel also considered that outdoor lighting would, generally speaking, harden the tone of an image, as it is much brighter, and not as easily manipulated to accentuate some features over others.
On top of this, the same email advert featured an image of a different, curvier model, wearing the same dress to demonstrate its appearance on different body types.
“The panel considered that the body type shown, while arguably petite, did not appear to be unhealthily thin, or to represent an unhealthy body type that would not be attainable through healthy practices,” Ad Standards shared in a case report. “The panel considered that the model appeared to be at ease and that there was nothing in the ad that gave the impression that she is unhealthy, malnourished, or has attained her body type through unhealthy or harmful practices.
“The panel considered that the ad does not communicate any specific message about body type or eating habits. The panel considered that people who see this ad would be unlikely to interpret it as an indication that they should aspire to look like this, or that they would, in some way, be inferior if they did not have this body type.”
Finding that the email send-out from Manning Cartell did not contain material contrary to prevailing community standards on health and safety, Ad Standards dismissed the complaint.