Tyra Banks has a message for all the ‘skinnier than skinny’ models

Jun 26, 2015

As a former catwalk queen and the creator of America's Next Top Model, Tyra Banks knows a thing or two about the industry.

She has always campaigned for diversity in modelling, having famously featured plus-size and transgender models on ANTM, and yesterday Tyra took to social media to express her upset with the way the industry works these days.

"Models have so much pressure today… They have to be slimmer than slim. Skinnier than skinny," the TV star wrote. "When I was a young model, yeah, we had to think about our weight, but not like today. I think I was size 6, not a size 0."

Tyra also lamented the fact that so many models book jobs today based on their social media popularity more than on their catwalk skills. And if you take a look at the most sought-after models of 2015 – Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Jourdann Dunn, Karlie Kloss – their stats don't lie. Kendall alone has 29.5m followers on Instagram, with the others all racking up at least a million apiece.

Speaking about the changes that have happened since her own modelling days, Tyra said she didn't envy those working today. " They have to compete with actresses, recording artists and reality stars for magazine covers and ad campaigns," she wrote.

"They have to have tons of followers on social media to book top notch jobs. And they have to do selfies that make them look relatable, but not TOO relatable, because then people may comment that they don't understand, 'Why the heck is THAT girl a friggin' model??!!!!'"

Accompanying her Instagram post was an image of a young Tyra backstage at a YSL show looking decidedly under-dressed compared to models these days:

"Yep, that's teenaged me right before a YSL show was about to start in sneakers, plaid flannel and bad jeans. Mr. Yves Saint Laurent could care how I looked when I arrived to his show. But when I hit his stage, he expected excellence," the 41-year-old explained. "And I made sure I delivered that every time I was chosen to walk his amazing runway."

Tyra finished her rant by sending "love and hugs to all working, aspiring and super models worldwide" adding "stay strong girls."

This is the second time this month that Tyra has had people talking on Instagram, having shared a beautiful no-make up selfie last week and telling her followers, "You deserve to see the REAL me. The REALLY real me."