Madison fashion - style news: the skinny on Crystal Renn

In an industry obsessed with the "perfect" figure, it's no surprise that Crystal Renn recieves a lot of attention. The plus-sized model is one of the most successful exceptions to the rule within the fashion industry that models must be exceptionally slim to book campaigns, walk in runway shows and represent high-end brands. Crystal Renn has done it all - from walking in the Chanel Resort collection this year to appearing in the latest Jean Paul Gaultier campaign.

Late last month however, images of a slimmed-down Renn surfaced - shot by Nicholas Routzen and published on the Ford Model's blog, the pictures showed Renn dressed in a thigh-skimming tank, with touseld hair and dramatic makeup. The images were beautiful, but in them, Renn appeared dramatically thinner than usual, prompting fears that she had succumbed to industry pressure to conform to the skinny ideal.

In the midst of all the speculation, Renn herself spoke out, telling Glamour magazine that she was shocked as anybody. "When I saw the pictures, I think I was silent for a good five minutes, staring with my mouth open," she said. "I don’t know what was done to those photos or who did it, but they look retouched to me. And listen, everybody retouches, but don’t make me into something I’m not."

A behind-the-scenes video from the shoot supports the claim that Renn's slim figure was the result of some over-enthusiastic Photoshopping rather than any evidence of an eating disorder - in it, Renn's figure is dramatically different to the images used in the final campaign. We're pleased that Renn hasn't gone the way of Sophie Dahl, but disturbed that such gratutious retouching was allowed to happen, especially on a model who is known and celebrated for her atypical shape.

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