According to the ASA, Gucci said that the adverts were part of a video aimed at an "older, sophisticated audience", and that whether the models in question were "unhealthily thin" was a subjective issue.

The fashion house also argued that none of the models' bones were visible, they weren't wearing heavy makeup (which might accentuate thinness), and that the video's "warm lighting" meant that "there were no hollows caused by shadows".

But the ASA ruled that while the model in the first image did not look "unhealthily thin", the second model's slender torso and arms looked out of proportion with her head and lower body, her waist looked "very small", and that her "sombre" expression and dark eye makeup made her look "gaunt".

They concluded that the combined impression was that the model was "unhealthily thin", and that the ad was therefore "irresponsible". The image isn't allowed to appear again in the advert in the UK, and Gucci has been told to prepare its images "responsibly" in the future.

The news comes less than a month after Australian designer Alex Perry said designers should be "held accountable", after he was criticised for using a "scarily thin" model in a catwalk show. In California, a bill has been proposed that would require models to obtain a doctor's certificate to prove they are healthy enough to work. And in December 2015, France passed a bill banning "excessively thin" models.

Gucci advert featuring “unhealthily thin” model banned