Friday, April 12, 2013

In Britain, Debenhams promotes diversity in new campaign featuring Paralympian athlete

From The Drum:

Debenhams looks to increase its diversity of models in its latest look book campaign, with faces including Paralympian amputee Stefanie Reid (pictured); a 69-year-old model; and the face of the recent Plus Size Fashion Week.

Ed Watson, director of PR at Debenhams, said: “Our customers are not the same shape or size so our latest look book celebrates this diversity. We would be delighted if others followed our lead. Hopefully these shots will be a step, albeit a small one, towards more people feeling more comfortable about their bodies.”

Other faces included in the campaign include alternative model, Kelly, born without her left forearm and discovered when she won TV show ‘Missing Next Top Model’; and Philomena, a size 18 model who wants to be Britain’s first black plus size supermodel.

In 2010, Debenhams ran a campaign banning the Photoshopping of models.