Ditto hits out at 'brutal and abnormal' fashionistas

Gossip star follows last week's 'IoS' story with attack on model industry

Singer Beth Ditto has lashed out at the modelling industry, branding as "brutal" and abnormal" a profession that is considered a factor in the eating disorders that afflict one million people in the UK.

The rock star's comments, after the IoS story last week on her campaign against size 0 models, come amid growing fears that this year's catwalk shows during London Fashion Week will do little to advance the cause of models' health despite a much-hyped inquiry by the British Fashion Council. Banning skinny models is understood to have been ruled out because it would discriminate against models that are naturally thin.

Ditto, lead singer of The Gossip, said the modelling industry was a "brutal business that relies on a beauty standard achieved by 0.00008 per cent of women". Instead of being appreciated for what they achieve, women get "bombarded with photos of girls with bodies that so, so, so few have, in clothes that will never fit and that you will never be able to afford".

Ditto, who at 5ft tall is 15 stone, complained that women get stereotyped. "No one shows you a photo of 'Mama' Cass and says, 'See? She's a genius and had an amazing music career'. Or a painting by Frida Kahlo and says, ' You can be a revolutionary with vision and a unibrow, and not only will you be loved, worshipped and acclaimed, but you will be remembered for work, timeless and outstanding'."