The television event of the summer begins tonight. At 9pm on ITV, millions of viewers will tune in to watch oiled, sleek singletons compete for one another’s affections. Ah, modern romance. Although tremendously popular, (last year’s season premier was watched by almost 3 million people), the show has attracted criticism on a variety of fronts. One issue in particular that has been highlighted is that of the unrealistic beauty standards portrayed in the show.
Read MoreSince launching in early 2017, Zebedee Management has become the UK’s first modelling agency to exclusively represent people with physical and learning disabilities. With clients including luxury womenswear brand Teatum Jones and popular high-street stores like River Island and H&M, they are fast proving that diverse casting is the future. Founded by sisters-in-law Zoe Proctor and Laura Johnson from Sheffield, the idea for their agency arose during a discussion about the severe lack of opportunities for people with disabilities. According to the pair, it was truly “a light bulb moment” while out walking their dogs. In reality, this shared desire to champion diversity was by no means a spur of the moment decision, rather it was a culmination of years working in parallel industries; where Laura is a qualified social worker with a wealth of experience working with vulnerable adults and children, Zoe is a performing arts teacher specialising in teaching people with disabilities.
Read MoreLast month Marks & Spencer was hailed as ground-breaking following the launch of its new adaptive clothing range for children with disabilities. The “Adapted for Easy Dressing” line includes everything from trousers and shorts with poppers (instead of zips), T-shirts with soft velcro fastenings at the back of the neck and dresses with discreet pockets for a feeding tube.
Read MoreExpectations for London Fashion Week, the stepping down of Alibaba’s Chairman and decisions made on the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market - the news of this week reflects anticipation and speculation on the changes happening across the industry.
Read MoreThe European Journalism Observatory (EJO) recently analysed the gender diversity in bylines across 11 different European countries. The result echoed the gender imbalances across all creative industries, with women continually falling second behind men. This issue filters through to all creative industries, and needs addressing at the source of the problem.
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