This anorexic model’s appearance is so distracting that you aren’t looking at the clothes.

What was Cover magazine’s publisher Malene Malling thinking when she featured a model so emaciated that she looks like a corpse in her magazine? When I saw the picture, I just stared at it for several minutes because I could not believe that photo got past the editor’s desk. I have never seen a model this anorexic before. Her hands are bony, her face is pale and gaunt, her eyes are sunken, and her hair looks dry and brittle. I don’t know how she has the energy to stand, and her appearance is so distracting that I’m not looking at her outfit. She looks so unhealthy that I fear she could literally drop dead at any moment. What makes this so scary is that the model, Lululeika Ravn Liep, is just 16-years old, and a very popular model.

As a result of the Danish magazine’s lack of responsibility, it is experiencing the wrong kind of attention via social media. Politicians, Twitter, and Reddit are expressing shock and outrage at Cover with the hashtag #covergate. Malling responded to the scandal saying, “I have not lived up to my responsibility as a publisher, woman and mother and am truly sorry.” During their apology tour, the magazine pointed out that it recently featured plus size model Diana Graham in the magazine, but I think featuring an anorexic model cancels out that bragging right. It amuses me what the fashion world considers plus size and it is obvious that the fashion industry still has a long way to go in projecting healthy images.