Size 4 Model Fired for Being Too Fat

The model featured in an emaciated fashion photograph in which her head appeared wider than her hips, has been dropped by the Polo Ralph Lauren clothing line — for being too fat. 

If you asked people at random to describe Filippa Hamilton in a word, you’d hear a lot of synonyms for “gorgeous.” What you wouldn’t hear is “fat.”

And yet the 5-foot-10-inch, 120-pound model says that is essentially why she was fired by Ralph Lauren after eight years with the fashion designer.

“They said I couldn’t fit in their clothes anymore,” the size 4 stunner told TODAY’s Ann Curry Wednesday in New York. Hamilton said that Lauren wrote a letter to her agent saying, “We’re terminating your services because you don’t fit into the sample clothes that you need to wear.”

Ralph Lauren denied that she was fired for being too large.

“We consider her an important part of our imaging and branding,” the designer said in a statement to the media. “We regret that our relationship has ended as a result of her inability to meet the obligations under her contract with us.” (Read the company's full statement here.)

For over 42 years we have built a brand based on quality, integrity and a wholesome American lifestyle. Filippa Hamilton is a beautiful and healthy woman that we have worked closely with for over 6 years and we consider her an important part of our imaging and branding. We regret that our relationship has ended as a result of her inability to meet the obligations under her contract with us. The image in question was mistakenly released and used in a department store in Japan and was not the approved image which ran in the U.S. We take full responsibility for allowing this image to run as this is completely inconsistent with our creative standards and brand values. This error has absolutely no connection to our relationship with Filippa Hamilton.

Polo Ralph Lauren

Hamilton denied not meeting her obligations to a company that she called her second family.

“I did everything that I could. I was very loyal to them. I was on time every time,” Hamilton told Curry.