120-Pound Model: I Was Fired by Ralph Lauren for Being Too Fat

A size four model claims American fashion giant Ralph Lauren fired her after an eight year partnership because she was too fat to fit in the sample sizes.

Model Filippa Hamilton, who is 5’10” and 120 pounds, told NBC’s “Today Show” that although her size has never fluctuated since she began working for the fashion house, they recently fired her through her agent because she “couldn’t fit in their clothes anymore.”

While the termination news came in April, Hamilton, 23, said she never had any intention of going public with Ralph Lauren’s alleged reason for firing her. But when a heavily altered image surfaced of Hamilton looking dangerously emaciated, she said she felt it was time to speak out.

“Every young woman is going to look at [the photo] and think that it is normal to look like that,” Hamilton told “Today” host Ann Curry. “It’s not. I saw my face on this super-extremely skinny girl, which is not me. It makes me sad. It makes me think that Ralph Lauren wants to have this kind of image. It’s an American brand … and it’s not healthy, and it’s not right.”

For their part, Ralph Lauren denies that they fired Hamilton for being too big to fit in the clothes as she alleges.

“We consider her an important part of our imaging and branding,” the company said via statement. “We regret that our relationship has ended as a result of her inability to meet the obligations under her contract with us.”

Hamilton denies this claim, saying she was loyal to the company, never gained weight and was consistently on time for work.

“I was very sad. I’ve been working with them since I was 15 years old. For me they were my second family, so I was very hurt by this,” Hamilton said before adding that she didn’t know if she would be pursuing legal action.