Serinda Swan Will Not Diet

Posted by Lori Henry May 21, 2007

Serinda Swan had been modelling in her teen years after a growth spurt at the age of 14. Her five-foot-eight frame was the perfect height for modelling. But as her body developed more womanly curves, her agent told her she needed to lose weight to replicate her younger body.

Instead of going on a diet, though, she decided that losing weight to attain her dream wasn’t what she wanted to do.

"I didn't want to find out the reality that if I wanted my dream, I had to lose weight. That's a crushing dream for anybody… to change yourself to get your dream. Nobody should have to do that," she told Chatham Daily News (2007).

So giving up modelling seemed the only choice she had. But after winning the GUESS Watches International Model Search last month, everything changed. She says CEO Paul Marciano made a comment afterwards that pleasantly really surprised her.

"He stopped me and he asked me 'what size are you?"' . . . 'I'm like, a size 26, 27 in jeans.' He paused for a second and my heart started beating faster . . . and he's like, 'Just, whatever you do, don't lose any weight,’” she recalls (Chatham Daily News, 2007).

The 22-year-old model was ecstatic that she could follow her dreams without changing herself. She stays active in the outdoors of Vancouver, British Columbia, and balances her love of sweets with fruits and veggies.

Could this be a shift in the modelling world? Could too-thin be on its way out? I applaud Paul Marciano for seeing beauty and encouraging Serinda to stay the way she is.