Atkins always in fashion
Few industries owe a greater debt to Robert Atkins than Seventh Avenue. Atkins -- creator of the hugely popular high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet -- died Thursday in New York. Designers and editors alike undoubtedly will eulogize him over chicken Caesar salads and bunless turkey burgers.
As difficult as it may be to believe, the fashion industry recently has been more obsessed with weight loss than usual. Several high-profile designers and editors have shed a significant amount of weight. Folks such as Karl Lagerfeld, Gianfranco Ferre, Donna Karan, Narciso Rodriguez, Harper’s Bazaar editor Glenda Bailey and former GQ editor Art Cooper are all newly svelte.
An industry that manufactures trends is, by nature, particularly susceptible to them. It may be that the fashion industry ranks as the most vehement believer in weight-loss gimmicks. Rarely are there discussions of watching one’s portion sizes, not skipping breakfast and working out more religiously. Instead, there is a method, a trick, a new assistant added to the payroll. There are nutritionists and trainers and devotees of Pilates. There have been endless meals of grilled chicken and Diet Coke. There is even the raw-food diet.
But nothing has been as much of a constant as the Atkins plan. It may not be followed to the letter -- caffeine and alcohol are consumed without regret -- but the philosophy of protein over carbs is practically gospel. Like a tweed Chanel jacket or a Burberry trench coat, the Atkins diet is a classic. It defines the way in which the fashion industry eats, helps women glide into sundresses and ensures that flat-front trousers hang flat.
Those within the fashion industry do not speak inordinately about dieting: One need not discuss what is already known. Protein equals a Balenciaga scuba dress, Hedi Slimane’s cigarette-slim menswear, Helmut Lang’s lean trousers. Carbs equal fat.
Diana Vreeland once said that elegance is refusal, but fitting into a size 4 sample sale dress requires the self-denial inherent in the Atkins plan. Atkins may be unnatural but so is Botox, and the fashion industry is not about to argue the results.
