Allegra Versace is suffering to from anorexia, according to a press statement issued by her mother, Donatella Versace. The 20-year-old fashion house heiress is reportedly receiving medical care for the condition she has struggled with for several years.

There has been speculation in the past that Allegra has suffered from an eating disorder as she has been spotted at public events and fashion shows looking quite thin. The announcement of her illness comes at a particularly sensitive time for fashion houses, many of which are being to move away from the use of size zero models.

A growing number of models are being diagnosed with eating disorders and recent deaths in the industry have caused a major outcry about the size of models. Last year two South American models died of complications associated with anorexia. Some European countries are beginning to ban the use of super skinny models for photo shoots and runway shows.

With the kind of demand fashion houses are putting on models to fit into their clothing its no wonder the pressure to be skinny has overtaken one of their own. Hopefully Allegra can recover from her illness and hopefully this ordeal will finally make fashion industry leaders realize their unrealistic standards are causing casualties and an extremely unhealthy perception of body image by women everywhere.

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