And it's going mainstream. Scrawn is the new brawn. And lean guys with chicken-chests and scrawny legs are starting to overshadow the beefcake boys.
Cameron's Models co-director Melinda Collette says skinny, geeky guys are now the poster boys for fashion's leading style makers, particularly from abroad. "We've had guys who are healthy, strapping lads who, if they want to go to Europe or America, have to stop going to the gym and start running to lose weight," she says.
"The 6'3" (190cm) buff model doesn't exist any more. I have one model here who is six foot with a 36-inch chest and a 32-inch waist, and next to him is one with a 34-inch chest and 31-inch waist. They're a lot leaner in the chest and shoulders than perhaps they should be. Formerly, these two guys would have been told to go off to the gym and get a chest, but now we are not so stringent about that."
Chadwick Models' Matt Anderson says he has taken on more lean young men to reflect the shift to scrawny in the male modelling world over the past decade.
"Now skinny guys are seen as being more attractive, which is good for me because I'm a naturally skinny guy with a 30-inch (76cm) waist and 40-inch chest," he says.
