Model's Digest

Britain's Missing Top Model is a new BBC Three series starting on Tuesday, in which eight women with disabilities compete over the course of three weeks to prove to a panel of industry experts that they have what it takes to be a mainstream fashion model. Controller of BBC Three, Danny Cohen, says: "This series aims to challenge the artificial boundaries that seem to exist in the beauty and fashion industries. "It would be great if, in the future, we began to see more disabled models gracing the covers of the world's magazines." This original, five-part series is made by Love Productions for BBC Three. Eight women have been chosen to move into an apartment in London, where they will eat, sleep and breathe the fashion industry over a three-week period. Three industry experts will train them in every aspect of modelling ? from posing for photo shoots to location work and catwalks. During the intensive training period they will be set challenges by the expert judges to see if they have what it takes to become a model. If they impress the judges in these challenges, the girls will be allowed to continue in the competition. Ultimately, the judges will select one winner and her prize is a high-fashion photo shoot with one of the world's foremost fashion photographers ? to feature in a spread in a top women's glossy magazine. With this training and experience, the aspiration is to give the winner a foot in the door of the fashion industry. Richard McKerrow, Creative Director, Love Productions, says: "Our intention is to empower both the women featured in the project and thousands of others, who shouldn't be invisible to the fashion industry just because they are Disabled people. "We're also looking to challenge preconceived notions of beauty."
The series will be supported by Ouch, the BBC's award-winning disability website. Ouch will provide a forum for debate about the many issues raised by the series, as well as exclusive video clips and blogs. The site will also host a campaign run by BBC Learning that will bring the rarely-discussed topic of disability within the beauty and fashion industry into the spotlight, and challenge the audience's understanding of what it means to be a disabled person. A spokesperson of Disability Action, in Islington, says: "Any programme which raises awareness of the barriers that society places in the path disabled people wanting to pursue their chosen career, that has the ability to challenge negative stereotypes and encourage inclusion, is a positive thing."