Major labels say they will honour ban on underage and size zero models at Paris Fashion week

Labels from Givenchy to Saint Laurent showed off their new designs at Paris Fashion Week, alongside another innovation meant to wean the industry off its association with unhealthily thin and underage models.

All said they were honouring a new charter by their parent companies LVMH and Kering, setting age and size limits for the people parading their clothes – a timely development say campaigners, who want it to spread even further.

French fashion giants LVMH and Kering ban ultra-thin models

“I’ve seen a lot of girls with eating disorders ... [the charter] helps them from harming their bodies to fit the standard,” says model Danielle Ellsworth, 20, as she prepares for Christian Dior’s show.

Two years ago, Dior, part of LVMH, made waves by picking a 14-year-old for the catwalk – the new charter only allows people older than 16 to display adult clothes.

LVMH and Kering will also no longer use models smaller than the French size 34 for women and 44 for men, meaning the United States’ infamous “size zero” – equivalent to a French 32 – is out.

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But designers, models and other insiders said it was a start that could encourage people to denounce bad practices.

“It’s important that this industry takes responsibility,” says British designer Stella McCartney, after showcasing a contrasting collection of cotton T-shirts and bright taffeta skirts at Paris’ baroque Palais Garnier on Monday.

Cyril Brule, founder of Viva Model Management and the head of a French union for modelling agencies, said the companies’ all-encompassing ban could be more effective than regulations and laws brought in by individual countries.

“Something had to be done,” Brule says. “Things have gradually deteriorated, there are more and more instances of depression, of models suffering panic attacks.”

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There has been some resistance and some designers have defended the use of tall, thin models as the best way to show off their creations. Karl Lagerfeld, creative director at privately held Chanel, hit out in a 2009 interview at the “fat mummies” objecting to thinner women.

“There are some sizes that are good for making the first prototype,” she says after unveiling her collection last week.

“I didn’t want to stick to one particular kind of muse,” says the brand’s designer Yoshiyuki Miyamae.