'Anti-Model' Women's Magazine Considering Using Models Again

Brigitte, Germany’s most popular women’s magazine, made international headlines back in 2009 when it decided to only print pictures of “real women” going forward. Now, three years later, the magazine’s publishing house says it’s reconsidering that decision as part of a massive overhaul planned by a new editor-in-chief.

A spokesperson would only say that the “no models” policy was under review along with “everything,” but according to the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, there are a few reasons why the magazine might go back on its “real women” promise. One is that said “real women” were harder for photographers and stylists to work with, as well as to find — it costs extra to hire non-model models without the help of agencies. Another is that the “no model” policy — which now seems like it was little more than a publicity ploy — didn’t boost sales.

It didn’t boost readers’ self esteem, either; they often complained that even Brigette‘s “real women” models were as conventionally thin and pretty as the models who preceded them, and that they were accompanied by diet tips to boot.