All Walks Beyond the Catwalk and Rankin present 'SNAPPED' at the National Portrait Gallery, the Debate.

'Is Fashion the Lens through which we evaluate our own Identity?'

Since joining Twitter, we've been following Caryn Franklin (@Caryn_Franklin) and All Walks (@AllWalksCatwalk) in their much needed fight for diversity in the Fashion Industry. It was on Twitter that we came across 'SNAPPED', the late shift at the National Portrait Gallery which showcased Rankin's latest photographs of beautifully differing women. Evie has of course been in London since Monday, interning with Tom Lipop, but as soon as I read about the event I booked myself a train ticket, knowing it was an evening simply not to be missed! But fear not if you weren't there - the debate was filmed and will be steamed online. Evie wasn't able to attend, however in a wonderful stroke of luck, whilst waiting to enter the debate, a designer struck up conversation with me. Anna Lee, a Fashion Designer who is to exhibit next week with Vauxhall Fashion Scout, became my company for the evening and I was glad to give her Evie's ticket to the debate! We had an eventful evening - at one point I lost one of my bags - typical me - and Anna had to witness me have a bit of a panic in the middle of the gallery at the thought of being stranded in central London without money/tickets/ID, the poor girl had only just met me. Luckily people at the event were very nice, someone handed my clutch in and I am en route to Nottingham as I write this, thank you thank you thank you!! 

I am just one in a whole Nation of Women who I am quite sure are made to feel inadequate through Fashion's often unforgiving lens. I don't want to pick up a magazine and for the photographs in it to make me feel insecure. One of Lorraine Candy's points was that the ELLE team create images that are beautiful. She argued that women aren't stupid and know what they are buying (in the stick legged models amongst fashion magazines). I understood her point, Fashion is Art, naturally, the fashion spreads she publishes can't look anything other than beautiful. However, why does this mean the same waif thin casts of women should be used? Why can't something beautiful be created with what really is beautiful, and what we need to finally believe is beautiful: real women like ourselves. I want to see curvature amongst the haute couture, a personality wearing the garments for inspiration, not a blank and unhealthy canvas. And isn't that what it comes down to: health. What is more beautiful and inspirational than a woman exuding vitality whatever age, shape or race? 

the panel join the audience in the shock of the fact that Britney is actually normal like the rest of us before photoshop takes hold

Erin O'Connor told the audience about her more recently conflicting relationship with the Industry. She remembered feeling quite awkward as a girl, and that all changing after being scouted, her 6 ft. frame me being adored by the camera and praised by everyone behind it. But with sample sizes no longer fitting, she sometimes has trouble. She recounted an experience with a Designer, who asked 'what happened to you?!' when a pair of trousers didn't fit backstage at a show. Erin replied 'then why don't you make them bigger?', a fair point, no? The catwalk is becoming more diverse, this Season John Galliano sent Beth Ditto strutting her voluptuous figure down the catwalk, and hopefully at London Fashion Week more designers will choose to follow suit.

Kiki and her RUBY campaign

Kiki Kendrick's inspirational advertisements were shown behind her as she described the Body Shop's FULL VOICE campaign she worked on, starring RUBY the size 16 Barbie Doll who took the world by storm. She made the point of  the dangerous nature of the saturation of untruthful images to women, and in particular younger women. She commented that the first time you see something, it's different, the second it's not quite as much, and from then on it's just 'normal', and when this happens in magazines with the heavily airbrushed photographs portraying unattainable beauty, young girls don't see that it isn't really normal at all. When honest femininity is even sucked out of a plastic doll in exchanged for unrealistic proportions, these images are put in the mind of even the youngest girls. 

After leaving the Theatre, we made our way to the Gallery itself. By this time, most of the events (such as fashion illustration classes, the chance to be photographed by Alistair Guy for i.D and the 'I am' photobooth) had ended, yet the space was absolutely packed, the music of the female DJs filling the atmosphere. The Gallery was filled with familiar faces, I even bumped into Osman Yousefzada whilst making my way through the crowds to the bar. Since he was one of the first influential people Evie and I had the chance to interview, we were pleased to see him nominated for the BFC/Vogue Fashion Funding recently, but above all, we love the fact that Osman is a key supporter of All Walks, Amira Ahmed wearing one of his stunning designs amongst Rankin's shots. With her arms raised and the fabric of the dress taking the the air with her, she looks empowered and full of joy, the feelings which the All Walks campaign is spreading, and which are definitely catching on. 

The True Shape of Beauty, we interview Caryn Franklin.

Flick through any Fashion magazine, and you're confronted by women that look as if they would break in two if you were to give them so much as a handshake. These models, the supposed epitome of beauty and perfection, are really nothing more than skin and bones. Yet many of us still envy them. We're the first to admit it, Evie wishes she had their height, and Harriet wants to steal their legs. But is it not all becoming a bit tiring? Who wants to read these magazines and see nothing but the unachievable? We already have to deal with not being able to fund the clothes themselves, but knowing we won't look like the skinny girls wearing them is an extra, unnecessary slap in the self-esteem.
When we went to Clothes Show Live, we were excited to see Caryn Franklin presenting on the Catwalk. We're fascinated by how rich and diverse Caryn's career in the Fashion Industry has been so far, she's been Co-Editor of i-D Magazine, presented shows such as The Clothes Show on BBC One, and runs a website with Fashion tips for every body shape. But perhaps most importantly, she campaigns for diversity in Fashion, and this fight is rooted in All Walks, the organisation Caryn set up with Erin O'Connor and Debra Bourne. Aiming to educate and inspire, All Walks is already making a difference to opinions on and off the catwalks, at Fashion Week SS11, a shoot with Rankin showed the many true shapes, sizes and colours of beauty, and we're looking forward to whatever may be in store this time around. We'd hoped to interview Caryn at the Clothes Show, but in the end, didn't get the chance. But we don't give up, and have since endeavoured to find out more from the lady herself about her work and views on diversity. 

Debra Bourne, Erin O'Connor and Caryn Franklin. Photograph by Kayt Jones.

Was there a defining moment that made you realise you wanted to make a difference to the women under Fashion's scrutiny? 
Since I was fronting a mainstream programme on the BBC 25 years ago, women would come up to me in the street and talk about how fashion imagery made them feel. I have written about it so many times. Then there was a recent chance to pitch for some funding to create a shoot with Debra Bourne and Erin O’Connor - we came up with All Walks.
We were shocked by the controversy sparked by Mark Fast sending Hayley Morley down the runway, do you think it will ever be deemed 'normal' to have a diverse range of figures represented in Fashion? 
Views are changing slowly. The controversy around Mark's show was mainly to do with a pretend drama, the stylist allegedly walking out was not true but was stoked up by the media. William Tempest one of our other designers also used a curvy model on the catwalk but no one got their knickers in a twist about that!

Why do you think Designers opt for such waif-like women to model their designs? There's always excuses about it looking better, but it quite obviously doesn't.
A thin body doesn’t make the same demands on a piece of design in the way that a curvy body does. More skill and understanding of the body is needed...perhaps designers just don’t feel confident or skilled enough to show exciting designs on curvaceous bodies? That’s where education comes in.

The media's constantly sending out messages of what is deemed to be beautiful, what is beauty to you? 
Confidence, sunshine in the eyes and passion in the heart!
What's your ultimate vision for All Walks, and how can everyday girls like our readers, many of them hopeful futures of Fashion, help to make a lasting difference? 
Each person can have a say. Can create a small shift, can move towards diversity. Small choices amount to a shift in thinking.

Rankin and the beautifully different ladies who were the other side of his lens at Fashion Week SS11, photograph by Alistair Guy.