At this year’s British Vogue Festival, which ran from April 20-21 and is said to be “a unique event where you can see and hear some of the biggest names in the fashion industry”, Talent Management was surprised at some of the things we ended up hearing.

Specifically, when British Vogue executive fashion director Calgary Avansino asked 30 year old model Natalia Vodianova about the super-contentious issue of models’ weight, we didn’t expect such a blunt answer.

Avansino asked the model: “It’s undeniable that models are very thin, expected to be very thin, and thinner than 99.9 percent of the population. What message should you be sending out?”

To which Vodianova answered: “Come on, guys, it’s better to be skinny than to be fat! We eat well, we exercise – please, do the same and you will look like this.

“I’m sorry, but today the NHS are fighting against obesity, children are taken away from their parents because they’re too fat … And here we are, defending that we are healthy and skinny.”

The model mother of three also spoke rather arrogantly about her weight after pregnancy, showing little sympathy for those struggling with excess weight issues.

“I must say I actually came to [an event at] the V&A after giving birth to [my son] Victor, three days later, and I was wearing Givenchy Couture,” she said.

Talent Management has always known half-marathon runner Vodianova for keeping fit and healthy and portraying a positive message to aspiring models, but could her frank response to Avansino’s deliberately leading question be taken the wrong way?

What do you think about Vodianova’s comments? Let the Talent Management team know on the agency’s Facebook Fan Page.