“It’s problematic”: concern as weight-loss vaccine maker sponsors event Vogue World | Fashion

The fifth edition of Vogue World, supervised by Anna Wintour, took place Tuesday evening in Milan. Gigi Hadid and Jennifer Lopez made some drama on the runway, but it was one of the event’s sponsors that made the biggest splash.

Eli Lilly, an American pharmaceutical company that manufactures a wide range of drugs including the weight-loss vaccine Mounjaro and the pill Foundayo, was listed in the event’s credits as one of its “fashion adjacent” sponsors.

The pharmaceutical company also sponsored Vogue World 2025 in Hollywood, as well as the Met Gala livestream earlier this year, which included a promotional video featuring actor Patrick Schwarzenegger and fashion brand Public School.

Although the current partnership does not explicitly link Mounjaro or Foundayo to Vogue, the marriage of high-profile fashion events and a weight-loss drug maker has drawn sharp criticism from eating disorder charities and academics.

These groups have long believed that the fashion industry promotes thinness by routinely featuring very thin models in runway shows, editorials and advertising, and warn of the negative impact this could have.

“This suggests that thinness is once again very explicitly positioned as something important that we should aspire to — and now something that can potentially be achieved medically,” said Charlotte Markey, a psychology professor at Rutgers University and author of The Body Image book series.

Markey found the merger of fashion marketing and pharmaceutical marketing particularly troubling, because it suggested that prescription drugs had become part of an aspirational lifestyle. “For an audience already exposed to intense appearance-related pressures, this may normalize the idea that changing one’s body medically is just another beauty or wellness choice,” she said. “I would like to see publications like Vogue think very carefully about the broader psychological and cultural consequences of this message.”

Lauren Downing Peters, an associate professor of fashion studies at Columbia College Chicago and author of books including Fashion Before Plus Size, said the sponsorship showed “how normalized GLP-1s have become within the fashion industry and culture at large.”

Tom Quinn, director of external affairs at eating disorder charity Beat, found the partnership alarming. “We are concerned about the widespread use and advertising of GLP-1s, particularly because they can be very attractive to people with eating disorders,” he said.

“Given that the fashion industry is sometimes known for idealizing and promoting unrealistic body ideals, this event sponsored by Mounjaro’s manufacturer is a problematic association.

“We encourage the fashion industry and pharmaceutical companies to think about how they can promote a healthy figure and lifestyle to the public.”

The Milan Vogue World partnership includes a video published on the Vogue website called Portrait of Progress. Produced by Vogue with Eli Lilly, the video compares pharmaceutical technologies to fashion manufacturing.

“For 150 years, Lilly has been revolutionizing health,” says a voiceover as a montage of fashion and health-related clips plays. “The future has always been made by hand, by discovering, creating and moving forward. It all starts with health, and everything else is up to you.”

Downing Peters said that while the video did not directly mention slimming or weight loss drugs, it “associates health as a prerequisite for creativity.”

In August, the UK became the first country in Europe to approve Lilly’s diet pill. In the United States, the company has more than 60% of the market for diabetes and weight loss drugs, with a valuation of billions of dollars.

Many felt that the fashion industry had recently seen a setback in its progress towards size inclusiveness, with a worrying return of ultra-thinness on and off the catwalk.

Last year, a Vogue Business report found that of the 9,038 looks presented at 198 shows in womenswear collections in September 2025, 97.1% were shown on straight-sized models measuring between a US size 0-4 (the equivalent of a UK size 4-8). Only 0.9% of models were plus size, also known as curve (UK 18+), while 2% were average size (UK 10-16).

The widespread use of GLP-1s, particularly for cosmetic weight loss rather than medical reasons, is thought to be a contributing factor.

This week’s Vogue World show featured plus-size models Paloma Elsesser and Ashley Graham, and none of its promotional materials referenced slimming or weight-loss drugs. However, Felicity Hayward, a plus-size model who advocates for size inclusiveness in fashion, saw the presence of plus-size models in runway shows as a “checkbox”. She described the casting as “size diversity cosplay” by Vogue and said the choice of sponsorship was “a plea for thinness with a foghorn”.

A Condé Nast source said the partnership was focused on Eli Lilly’s overall brand and not any specific drug.

An Eli Lilly spokesperson said: “This sponsorship is part of our 150th anniversary – 150 years of health coming first. Health is what gives us all the freedom to move, explore and be present.”

“We collaborate with cultural platforms like Vogue because that’s where conversations about bodies and health are happening. Lilly works to shift the conversation about weight from aesthetics to health and combat the stigma that obese people face every day.”