Students interested in strutting their stuff on the catwalk will soon have their chance -- as long as they are "healthy," a local fashion designer said.

Designer Simon Hawk, along with local chiropractor Jon Masorti, plan to open a modeling agency in the fall of 2008. The agency will be open to all healthy body types, he said.

"We've been working toward it for awhile. We have a model base, contacts, and upcoming shows," Hawk said, adding that they are not yet operating under an official name.

Models for Hawk's agency will be showcasing unique clothing, as many of Hawk's designs represent his days as a graffiti artist, Hawk said.

After a recent arrest for multiple charges of graffiti tagging, Hawk transformed his crime into his career by transferring his graffiti from private property to clothing, he said.

"One of the newer designs was specifically dedicated to the stuff I got arrested for," Hawk said. "It was a little ode to them."

Hawk said modeling candidates of both sexes can now apply for the agency, and stressed the importance of a model's character rather than his or her measurements.

"It's more of a presence," he said. "I find it easier to work with people that are more positive and strong characters than weak people with just a pretty face. If we have a girl who is 5 feet, we just give her heels."

Nancy Tuana, professor of philosophy and women's studies, said she thinks diversity in modeling is important but "atypical."

"Women are all different sizes," she said. "If you say, 'This is the range of weight that is acceptable,' that kind of norming makes it expected. If you don't have that body weight, then you are seen as either not having the willpower to control your eating or get enough exercise or so on and so forth."

State College is not the only place looking to accept more "healthy" models. According to an Associated Press report, The Council of Fashion of Designers of America has recently issued suggested guidelines to discourage models from becoming overly thin. Officials in Madrid set a minimum body-mass index and Milan tightened restrictions after 21-year-old Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston died of anorexia in November at 88 pounds, according to the Associated Press.

Hawk said he is in favor of the movement.

"I love it. I'm a big fan of healthier women. I think it carries over better in pictures and in life," he said.

Aja Konstas (freshman-human development and family studies) is a model who has been in one of Hawk's shows and been involved in modeling since childhood. She said she tries to stay healthy, but admitted to feeling "a little pressure" to stay in shape.

Although Hawk admits that his philosophy is "kind of the opposite of the way most things are done," he predicts that America will follow in the footsteps of the European weight restrictions.

"Almost anything that happens over in Europe filters over eventually," he said.

Tuana said she disagreed.

"There are too many factors at play. If this modeling agency really is open to a wide range of body types, that would be great, but it would be atypical," she said.