We are all too familiar with the horror stories that surround the fashion industry, but more recently, model mistreatment has sadly been at the forefront. While there has been some movement in the right direction – thanks to initiatives implemented by the joint efforts of LVMH and Kering – the progress is still slow. In order to make the UK a leader in stopping the mistreatment of models, the British Fashion Council has announced it would be launching the Models First Initiative. 

If you aren’t familiar with the BFC, it is the non-profit board that helps support young designers and talent as well as promoting British design internationally. Teaming up with the newly founded British Fashion Model Agency Association, the new initiative has been created to set better practice for models within the industry. 

The initiative is being set up with the hope to set better practice in the modelling industry and will lobby to remove barriers that prevent talented models from working in the UK. Together the committee will look at the modelling industry and the ways in which models are treated to ensure that any current issues are fixed. If Brexit goes ahead, it will also work towards upholding diversity by allowing those from outside the UK to travel over fashion week. 

The news of the initiative comes at a time where models are regularly revealing their experiences of mistreatment. Earlier this year, Leomie Anderson took to Twitter to call out a designer she claims dropped her because she was black. There was also the controversy surrounding a Balenciaga casting that led to two of its directors being fired after being called out by James Scully. 

While it is a positive step towards safe working conditions for models, the fact that is needed in the first place is something that shouldn’t go unnoticed. Hopefully, with the BFC’s initiative, others will follow in enforcing stricter rules and regulations to make sure that models are treated fairly.