Luxury retail companies LVMH and Kering agreed Wednesday to ban models below U.S. sizes 0-2, French size 34, and British size 6 in a move to stop encouraging sickly-looking skinny models in designers' runway shows.

The agreement from parent companies of high-designer companies like Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Gucci comes shortly after French legislators passed a law set to go into effect Oct. 1 that requires male and female models obtain medical documents every two years to prove they are healthy enough to work.

However, the designer brands approved a more conservative proposal that mandates models be cleared by doctors every six months.

"We hope to inspire the entire industry to follow suit, thus making a real difference in the working conditions of fashion models industry-wide," Kering CEO Francois-Henri Pinault said in a statement.

The public policy and private agreement will take effect before the 2018 spring and summer fashion shows take place.

The companies told the Associated Press they hope to set a new international standard for the industry.