From the canary yellows that illuminate the runways heralding spring to the seemingly gravity-defying pieces of haute couture, fashion has always been an art of shocking extremes.

Over Super Bowl weekend, however, with the majority of Americans divining different ways to mix nacho cheese and sour cream, a nation with a waistline burgeoning to one extreme pointed the finger at an industry shrinking toward the other.

On Feb. 5, in the wake of the anorexia-caused deaths of several women last year, the Council of Fashion Designers of America met to discuss the issue of abnormally thin models.

According to a report by New York Times fashion writer Guy Trebay, while little was accomplished during the forum — save for the acknowledgement of the problem and a collective wringing of hands regarding eating disorders — the council's meeting comes at crucial time in fashion.

And, I would argue, a crucial time for society in general.

"The Spanish banned underweight models. The Italians decided that in the future (meaning probably not until 2008) models would have to be over age 16, have a license and a body mass index above 18.5 percent to gain employment. The French, maintaining they already had strong rules on the subject, predictably dismissed the issue," Trebay wrote.

And the United States, a country renowned for its extremes, is only beginning to address it.

Perhaps it's due to our collective squeamishness towards the issue of weight while we struggle with an obesity crisis. Perhaps it's the fact that, despite major efforts to target and educate youth concerning the dangers of eating disorders, the rate of eating disorders in the United States has grown every year. Or perhaps, like the rest of the world and its relationship to fashion, we're simply struggling with several key questions.

Why are clothes continually being made for individuals farther and farther away from the norm? Does fashion truly look better on thinner people? And, if so, why has the "ideal thin" become smaller and smaller over the past three decades?

I don't have any hard and fast answers to these questions and I would argue that none of the council members present at the meeting (which included notable designers Donna Karan and Diane Von Furstenberg) have any answers either.

They simply know that agents send them thinner and younger girls every year to saunter down a slick runaway and the bust-to-waistline ratios of their pieces get smaller and smaller.

And while part of me worries that legal limitations are being put on an art form, another part of me applauds the actions of the Spanish and Italian fashion councils.

Why? Because of how my love of fashion began.

At the age of 13 — before the names Jacobs, Bartley, Proenza Schouler and Chloe became commonplace — I distinctly remember shopping for clothes and, in my awkward adolescent way, coming across a shirt that read "FEED KATE MOSS."

"Who was this Kate Moss?" I thought, and why does she need to be fed?

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before I knew exactly who Kate Moss was and desperately wanted to look like her.

In fact, as a young, awkward girl, she represented everything that I wanted: her mid-1990s campaign for Calvin Klein was highly sexualized, she was older, yet thin and flawless and she looked my age. Clothes fit her perfectly, while they bunched all over my body. She was dating Johnny Depp. I was just hoping some greasy young Gavin Rossdale lookalike would notice me.

According to poll conducted by Nielsen and cited at the Council's meeting, out of 25,000 people in 45 countries, 81 percent disapproved of "extreme thinness."

But after awhile, I didn't. I started to think the way Kate Moss looked was normal and I was convinced that I could someday look like her at almost any cost.

Therein lies fashion and society's crucial problem.

The world of fashion has long since lost touch with the fact that — despite its elitism and high price range — for a sizable portion of the female public, they represent a desired "normality."

Models have always been thinner than the average individual. As designers have sought to push daring new extremes in both their clothes and the individuals that wear them, however, their currents have pulled far more individuals to unhealthy extremes than they realize.

Regulations such as those enacted by the fashion councils of Spain and Italy can only go so far to control the extreme thinness adored in fashion.

One hopes, for the thousands of other young girls discovering fashion in the same dysfunctional way I did, that designers will stop merely wringing their hands and start exploring ways they can push extremes on the runaway without the aid of extreme human bodies.

Maybe then we could all appreciate the art of fashion as opposed to worrying about and regulating what lies several layers of fabric beneath.

Reach columnist Maureen Trantham at opinion@thedaily.washington.edu.