• The Wall Street Journal, Thursday, September 27, 2007 11:15 AM

An ad campaign from the Italian label Nolita that is using images of a nude, emaciated 27-year-old woman with the line "No. Anorexia" is cranking up the volume in a debate that many in the fashion industry have tried to keep silent.

A number of fashion trade groups have been trying to clean up the industry's image by pushing designers to use healthier, heavier-looking models. But the Nolita campaign has alienated some of the very people who champion the cause. It has also stirred up controversy over whether the brand is raising awareness about anorexia or just profiting from it.

Mario Boselli, the president of Italy's fashion-trade group, says he is dismayed by the ads. Fabiola De Clercq, founder and president of ABA--the Italian association against anorexia, bulimia and obesity--says it "glorifies a woman who is sick and could lead others to be sickly thin because of all the attention." But Diane von Furstenberg, president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, says, "It's a horrible picture, but I think it may be very good in the end."

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