Ralph Lauren in second airbrushing row

Ralph Lauren has been accused of airbrushing another model to make her look skinnier, a week after the fashion house was forced to apologise for running a digitally enhanced photo of an emaciated model in Japan.

In the latest row, a photo of Russian model Valentina Zelyaeva was digitally altered to show her waist looking impossibly skinny, with her shoulders clearly wider than her hips. Wrinkles on the grey top she is modelling also appear to show her ribs.

The image (above left) appeared in a shop in Sydney, as well as on the designer label's Australian website. Unfortunately for Ralph Lauren, the retouched photo appeared on its website at the same time as the original version of the same photo (above right) - affording visitors the opportunity of before and after views.

Last week, Ralph Lauren apologised after an image of model Filippa Hamilton was digitally retouched to make her head larger than her waist. The ad, for the designer's Blue Label jeans, was used by a Japanese department store. Hamilton, who claimed she was fired by the American clothing brand because she did not fit its clothing samples, has previously appeared in Ralph Lauren ads with Zelyaeva.

Zelyaeva, 27, who has featured in British Vogue, has posed for Ralph Lauren advertisements since 2005. She was named the 13th highest paid model in the world last year by Forbes magazine, having earned an estimated $2.3 million (£1.4 million).

The latest distorted image has sparked more outrage on the internet, with commentators on PhotoshopDisasters.blogspot.com, where the image was posted, condemning the photo that made the model look "freakishly thin" and "alien-looking".

Ralph Lauren is yet to comment on the image of Zelyaeva. It initially responded to the airbrushing row over Hamilton's photo by threatening websites running the image with 'cease and desist' orders before admitting it was responsible for the distorted photo. ·