As the spring advertisements began circulating , you may have been tempted to ask when it became O.K. for models to lie down on the job.

There’s Lara Stone, in the Louis Vuitton ad by Steven Meisel, lying on her back in a woodsy setting. There’s Georgia May Jagger, photographed by Mario Testino for Versace, evidently at the moment she fell backward over a purple velvet chair . There’s Jac Jagaciak, in a David Sims image for Calvin Klein, collapsed on a tree trunk. Fashion is having a recumbent moment, with models down all at once at Valentino, Miu Miu and Marc Jacobs, too.

Trey Laird, the advertising whiz behind campaigns for Donna Karan and Gap, said: “There are only so many ways you can show a handbag or jewelry or jeans. Compositionwise, sometimes people reach the same endpoint.”

David Wolfe, the creative director of the Doneger Group, the forecasting company, said of the trend: “It’s obviously sexual. But the other thing I think of is animal psychology, because I do watch ‘The Dog Whisperer.’ When dogs or cats lower themselves to make themselves seem submissive, they are giving up their power and displaying their lack of aggression.”

“It’s very hard to make a sexy picture of an elegant dress,” he said. “But throw the woman on the ground, and, oh, it’s a sexual come-on. That moves merchandise.”


ERIC WILSON