Why I Didn't Attend DVF At The Harris Center Tonight

click for sourceDon't get me wrong, I adore Diane von Furstenberg. She's a powerful woman who makes incredible clothes that I love and own. She is well spoken, thoughtful, influential and the perfect example of a role model for women in business. She's also the keynote speaker at the Harris Center for Education and Advocacy in Eating Disorders at MGH's Annual Public Forum, happening right about now. The Harris Center is a tremendous resource for the detection, treatment and prevention of eating disorders, which are all too often a subject that is closely tied to fashion.

I think it's fantastic that the Harris Center maintains an open dialogue with the industry, which is often blamed for setting poor examples of the all-too-skinny body image that so many eating disorder patients fixate on. It's important that such conversations are open to the public and that the president of the CFDA is addressing these issues, just like Anna Wintour, Michael Kors and Natalia Vodianova did last year. Keep in mind that the majority of the people who attended last year were health professionals versus fashion people. And just like last year, it will have a touch of deja vu for those who follow fashion.

That being said, I know what the spiel is going to be tonight, because DVF's "healthier standards" have been a major touch point since she was chosen to lead the CFDA. She will discuss the CFDA Health Initiative Ambassador Program and will most likely address her embarrassment over the fact that her people casted a 15-year-old girl for her most recent runway show (breaking one of the CFDA guidelines). While it will be interesting to see if anything new will be brought to the table, I decided that it's better to let someone who may not have heard her message to attend.

Again, this is by no means a criticism about the event - it's a very serious and important dialogue that not enough people in the fashion industry are taking seriously. Eating disorders are deadly serious. If her message could affect that one person who sat in the seat that I could have been in at this moment, whether as an educator, health professional or (better yet) someone battling an eating disorder, that's more effective than me writing a recap of the things that I just linked to above.