A no-sunbed rule is being enforced at this year’s Liverpool Fashion Week.
"The health and wellbeing of our models is of paramount importance and we’re delighted to be the first fashion week that has a complete ban on sunbed-using models."
Models who have never used, or pledge to not use sunbeds are being selected for the fashion event which takes place from 14-19 October. All participating models will have to sign a pledge agreeing to not use sunbeds during or after Liverpool Fashion Week.
Victoria Jane Davies, a 21-year-old model from Liverpool, will be involved in this year’s show and explains her personal experience with sunbeds: “The ‘Liverpool Look’ is grounded in the belief that being tanned is beautiful and so there’s this constant pressure to be tanned. As a model, I have to always have my best face forward and going on the sunbeds could have really ruined that.”
The zero-tolerance policy backs Liverpool City Council’s recently launched campaign, ‘The Look To Die For?’, which aims to halt the worrying number of young girls in Liverpool using sunbeds. Statistics show 50 per cent of 15-17 year olds in Liverpool have used the sunbeds, compared to 11 per cent nationally.
Amanda Moss, organiser of Liverpool Fashion Week said: “The health and wellbeing of our models is of paramount importance and we’re delighted to be the first fashion week that has a complete ban on sunbed-using models. We want our models to look their absolute best, which means not putting themselves at risk of skin cancer or premature aging from the sunbeds.
“We’re also aware of just how many young girls in the city are using sunbeds and we hope that by showing how gorgeous our models look at this year’s Liverpool Fashion Week, we will help sunbed users in the city realise they don’t need to get on the beds to look great. Our girls can still have that golden glow, but they’ll get it from a bottle, not from the beds.”
‘The Look To Die For?’ campaign is being supported by Cancer Research UK and the local NHS. From October the campaign will go into schools and colleges across Liverpool to teach students and their parents about the risks of using sunbeds. For more information visit www.thelooktodiefor.co.uk
