Zebedee: The Inclusive Talent Agency taking the fashion sector by storm

Zebedee is an inclusive talent agency, championing disabled, visibly different, non-binary, and trans UK models. Global names already signed by Zebedee include Ellie Goldstein, who recently made the cover of British Vogue and Jasroop Kaur Singh who appeared in the Australia Vogue ‘Vogue Vanguard’ issue.

Zebedee was established by co-founders Laura and Zoe in 2017 as a direct response to the lack of representation and inclusivity in the media. Now Channel 4 has created an insightful documentary series with the working title, ‘New Model Agency’ which follows Zebedee HQ and many of their diverse and dynamic cast of models. The documentary will air in February 2024 around London Fashion Week – so watch this space!

Meg Pirie speaks with co-founder Laura Winson who also sits on our Representation and Inclusion Committee. They talk about the progress Laura feels has been made in the fashion sector; what still needs to happen; and the spending power of disabled people – which is thought to be around £280 billion pounds every year in the UK alone and £1.3 trillion worldwide; and the fact that if brands don’t get on board, they’ll soon be left behind.

2023_2Tamara CincikOctober 30, 2023Representation, Inclusion, Zebedee, Ellie Goldstein, Vogue, Laura Winson, Meg Pirie

Press Release: The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Textiles and Fashion Launches The Policy Report On Representation and Inclusion in the Fashion Industry

Key findings:

Discrimination pervades the fashion industry
The fashion industry is missing out on potential revenue
Sustained structural change is needed
The industry is segregated
Leadership needs to accept the situation and change accordingly

OP-ED: All hairdressers must now cater to Black hair, but how valuable will this be for Black women?

Gone are the days where black models will have to bring their own hair styling tools and style themselves – so we hope. After a recent review by the National Occupational Standards for hairdressing, Afro and ‘Textured’ hair has been included into the styling and cutting practice standard. This means all UK hairdressers will now have to be trained in cutting and styling Afro-textured hair. But how effective will this change will really be for black women? asks Davina Appiagyei.

Op-Ed, 2021_4Tamara CincikJuly 13, 2021Representation, Beauty

OP-ED: Eden Loweth on Why Designers Must Do More to Support Inclusive Fashion on the Catwalk

“For too long communities like the one I come from have been trapped in a marginalised reality of under representation and exclusion, this has to stop. I implore every designer, agent, creative and CEO reading this to open the doors to real change. In this moment, in 2020, a year of unimaginable hardship, now is the time to act.”

Op-Ed, 2020_5Tamara CincikOctober 6, 2020Eden Loweth, Representation, inclusion, #areyourepresented

In Conversation with Karen Binns at The Curtain Hotel

Our event last week was packed with an audience of all ages, backgrounds and voices. Karen covered her work but what for me was perhaps most moving, especially as it aligns with our work on Representation and Inclusion, was when Karen covered what cultural appropriation in fashion looks like in her own inimitable way.

Tamara CincikOctober 22, 2019Representation, Inclusive Fashion, Karen Binns, events

Press Release: The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Textiles and Fashion launches Call for Evidence for their policy paper on Representation and Inclusion in the Fashion Industry

“Fashion like politics and indeed the FTSE 250 needs to recognise that inclusion and representation have to be core to systemic change. If businesses and politics are to represent those they serve then we have to see a radical transformation to create a sector which is inclusive and representative of all of us. From the power of the purple pound, to the estimated 60% growth of the modest fashion market to 2021, for businesses to connect with our consumers those in charge need to recognise the need for change in order to be effective and valued in these growing and important markets.”

UK Disabilities Minister Will Not Be Reappointed Until Brexit Is Resolved: the current situation and the implications of this so-called “small gap”. By Lottie Jackson

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live last week, the Tories vice-chairman James Cleverly revealed the government will not be reappointing the role of Disabilities Minister until the current Brexit impasse has been resolved. The previous Minister of State for Disabled People Sarah Newton resigned last month to vote against a no-deal withdrawal from the EU. But with no end point for Brexit on the horizon and a potential lengthy delay until we leave the EU, what impact will this have for the 13.9 million disabled people in the UK?

Tamara CincikApril 2, 2019Representation, disability focus, Brexit, government, parliament

“We want to ensure that anyone can feel heard, included and involved”: Q&A with Huda Jawad, the co-organiser of Women's March London. By Lottie Jackson

On Saturday 19 January, thousands gathered in protest of gender inequality, and more specifically to call out the economic hardship severely afflicting women in the UK. This year’s ‘Bread & Roses’ theme was an allusion to the Bread and Roses March 1912 which revolutionised working women’s rights in the United States. Protesters who congregated in Trafalgar Square witnessed a fantastic line up of speakers from the Fawcett Society, Solace Women’s Aid and the Women’s Equality Party. Following the event, I caught up with the co-organiser of Women's March London, Huda Jawad over email to discuss the ongoing role of this global, female-led movement.

Tamara CincikFebruary 11, 2019Women, Inclusion, Representation, Q&A, #areyourepresented

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