To be an adolescent, or a woman in her twenties and thirties, and try to maintain a body below a size 6 is, in most cases, going to entail unhealthy eating and exercise habits. Such extreme measures don't just harm models in the short term, but in decades to come - when they might want to start a family and find they have issues with fertility, or suffer with weakened bones.
For these big fashion names to take a stand against such practices could be the start of a change that many of us have long wanted to see.
The language used could, of course, be interpreted as hateful and leave the industry open to accusations of 'thin-shaming'. After all, fashion has long demanded super-skinny models - is it really fair to turn on them now and ban them from the catwalk? Doesn't it have to take some responsibility for girls who are often underweight, fatigued and frequently ill, rather than simply banishing them from the limelight?
We have to trust that such girls won't simply be abandoned. That this charter will send a clear message to the entire industry: you don't have to starve yourself in order to work. Girls with waists that measure less than 23 inches are not the holy grail of catwalk modelling.
Of course, some people are naturally very thin and that's where the risk of body shaming comes in. Having been poked in the ribs by strangers from a young age, and told I should 'eat more', I know this all too well. But, for too long, it has felt that, in fashion, there only space for one type of body - one that is barely achievable and potentially harmful.
As a model myself, I hope young girls coming up through the industry won't have to suffer the indignity of having every tiny part of their body (head, thighs, waist, hips, each finger) measured by agencies every single day until they are a very specific size - as I was in Tokyo, early in my career.
The charter, published this week, also covered other potentially damaging aspects of being a young, vulnerable model. It promised that no alcohol will be served to models under the age of 18, that under 16s will not be booked to model clothes aimed at grown women, and those under 18 will have a chaperone/guardian present at all times.
Well, about time. I was regularly drinking before and after shows, and on shoots, from the age of 16.
Of course I indulged irresponsibly - I was a teenager, often without a chaperone. I remember one three-day shoot during which I was plied with champagne, and had to be sent home in a taxi as I was so drunk. Thankfully, I was living with my parents, who greeted me with water and a bucket - but plenty of models are very young and aren't always surrounded by those who have their best interests at heart.
Although I felt like having my mum on some shoots cramped my style, she made sure I got there safely and was treated appropriately. At such a young age and in such an adult industry, models aren't always equipped with the vocabulary to say no. I may not have wanted to ruin the atmosphere by refusing to wear a see-through dress - but Mum had no such qualms.
This charter isn't a solution. They are still going to be very thin and young models on those catwalks for a long time to come. But it should stem the tide and encourage fashion insiders to say no and to speak out - like Charli Howard (who went viral after claiming her model agency dropped her for being 'too fat' at a size 6) and Ulrikke Hoyer (who said she was asked to drink 'nothing but water' for 24 hours before a catwalk show).
And it follows a French law that hit the statutes books in May, requiring models to present a doctor's certificate proving they are healthy to work - with agencies fined up to €75,000 or facing imprisonment of up to six months if they breach it.
If measures like this stop the rapid snowballing of an industry that has prized a childlike physique for too long, they are a step in the right direction.
