Christian Dior and Gucci have announced they will no longer cast underweight models in their fashion shows.

Gucci's Alessandro Michele

Gucci's Alessandro Michele

The French fashion house, which has recently appointed Maria Grazia Chiuri as the brand's creative director, has announced they are putting the initiative into place in a bid to prevent criticism around their casting and to try and prevent eating disorders, BBC News has reported.

And Dior are not the only brand to push the plan as Gucci, which is helmed by Alessandro Michele, have also followed suit.

This project was put in place by the two major fashion firms LVMH and Kering, which look after a string of prestigious label, including Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Marc Jacobs, Fendi and Stella McCartney.

And Kering's chairman, Francois-Henri Pinault, hopes their plan will encourage even more companies in the business to take on the same ethical practice.

He said: "[Kering hope to] inspire the entire industry to follow suit ... [Kering want to make] a real difference in the working conditions of fashion models".

And LVMH's director, Antoine Arnault, added: "I am deeply committed to ensuring that the working relationship between LVMH Group brands, agencies and models goes beyond simply complying with the legal requirements."

And models who have secured a place on the runway and will represent fashion brands now have to be larger than the French clothing size 32, which is the equivalent to a size six in the UK, and a size zero in America.

The brands have also agreed they will no longer use catwalk icons who are younger than 16 year old to exhibit their adult ranges.

The changes will be actioned before Paris Fashion Week this month, and the companies that do not adhere to the strategy could be fined up to £70,000, whilst the brand's bosses could risk facing jail for up to six months.