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	TX: 14.03.08 - Disabled Models PRESENTER: LIZ BARCLAY

	Downloaded from www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 THE ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT WAS TYPED FROM A RECORDING AND NOT COPIED FROM AN ORIGINAL SCRIPT. BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF MISHEARING AND THE DIFFICULTY IN SOME CASES OF IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS, THE 麻豆约拍 CANNOT VOUCH FOR ITS COMPLETE ACCURACY. BARCLAY Connie Chiu, Brenda Costa, Amiee Mullins - did you recognise those names? They're three of the very few models with a disability currently working in the world of fashion. If you're female, aged between 18 and 30, have a disability and a dream of joining them as a top fashion model this could be your chance, according to the company behind Britain's top missing model. It's a new five part reality series to be shown on 麻豆约拍 Three. Applications close on Monday and eight contestants will spend three weeks living together in a London apartment where they will eat, sleep and breathe the fashion industry and be coached by a number of industry experts. We'll be talking to Dug James, an executive producer at the company behind the programme, but first Julie Fernandez is on the phone. The actress who is a wheelchair user is probably best known for her appearances in the Office. Julie, you've tried to break into the world of modelling, what's your experience? FERNANDEZ I have, hello there, yes it's been rather interesting, just like all my other experiences within the media industry. It's been very, very tough and I think that's because in the main the fashion industry's all about body beautiful - being very thin, being ... - and it's more for an accessible market. And unfortunately people don't see wheelchair users, for example, as beautiful which I think is completely wrong. BARCLAY But you've been very close to being selected haven't you? FERNANDEZ Not for this show. BARCLAY No, no, no but for a modelling assignment. FERNANDEZ I - yes - I teamed up a few years back with a clothes designer who - we decided that I would model for her at New York, LA and London fashion week and it was going very, very well and we had a great amount of press interest and we had some great people coming to see the show live because of there being a wheelchair user, which is rarity on the catwalk especially at such big events like London and New York and LA fashion week. And it was going great guns. And then some weeks into negotiating and sorting everything out she pulled in a hair care company that was going to sponsor the show financially. And we believe that they weren't happy about the fact that there was a wheelchair user, so halfway through organising the dance routines and the clothing, for I had to have fittings and all sorts, I was told that I was no longer needed to model but I could hand the flowers to the designer at the end of the show or speak about my charity for two minutes. BARCLAY Yes well, Julie given your experiences would you apply to be on this series? FERNANDEZ I'm too old. BARCLAY If you weren't? FERNANDEZ I am past the age of 30. BARCLAY But if you weren't too old would you apply? FERNANDEZ I'm not sure, I have very mixed feelings. To be really honest with you I'm not a big fan of reality shows, I never have been and I don't think I ever will be. But I am pleased that there are going to be at least some programmes in this series looking at disabled people and having just disabled people in the show and training them up to be models. BARCLAY Well let's talk to Dug James from the television production company. Dug, what's the thinking behind this series? JAMES I think the thinking is that there are a huge amount of fantastic looking girls out there who want to be models but happen to have a disability and just are allowed no avenue to explore the desire to work in the industry. BARCLAY So this isn't just about ratings, this isn't about shock tactics? JAMES No, not at all. I mean I think it will be a controversial series, as all these kinds of series are, but that's definitely not the reason for doing the series. BARCLAY Isn't any move to include disabled people in modelling just a nod to disabled people being beautiful too, as you said, it can't really change the industry? JAMES I'm not sure, I think if you look at the work that people like Aimee Mullins or Brenda Costa have done they've been extraordinarily successful, they've been - they've attracted huge attention and they've worked with the designers that they have worked with very, very successfully and there's no reason that we couldn't have in this country our own Aimee Mullins or our own Brenda Costa. BARCLAY Maya Schultz is the managing director of the agency Acclaim Models and has worked in advertising. Maya, how realistic is that? SCHULTZ Unfortunately I think just to set expectations I think with regards to disabilities and clients booking people on disabilities you'll find a lot of prejudices and I think people are going to go with what they feel is safe and I think we do live in a very capitalist environment and I think one of the fears for them is the fact that they're going to think if they book a model of disability there's extra expenditure involved. And I think one of the other fears, as well, is, is there really that much marketability because there tends to be a lot of campaigns out there that are more statement campaigns. BARCLAY So Julie's experience isn't that wide of the mark? SCHULTZ No it's not. Unfortunately being the industry that it is people are judged on ability, looks, age, you know it's a very unregulated industry with regards to prejudices. BARCLAY How many disabled models do you have on your books? SCHULTZ I don't have any. BARCLAY Why not? SCHULTZ Because I don't feel that for myself I'm able to market them and give them a fair treatment with the rest of the models because if somebody was looking at this very seriously as a career path I don't feel that there would be enough bread and butter there for them to justify a career in modelling. BARCLAY Dug James? JAMES I think that's the perfect reason to do the show. I mean we are being up front with the girls that are taking part, we're not saying that they're going to be the next Kate Moss or the next Naomi Campbell, it is going to be incredibly tough. And part of what the show's doing is looking at why that's the case. I accept that a lot of the big brands, a lot of the big casting directors, may be don't want to work with a model who has a disability but is that really representative of the people that they're trying to sell to? BARCLAY What Maya are the challenges of working with disabled models, what are the challenges for the photographers, for the advertisers? SCHULTZ It really depends on the disability because that's something very hard to judge or to say. But I think one of the challenges when - from a modelling agency's perspective - we're given very, very tight briefs in terms of what the client's looking for, I mean even down to hair colour, skin tone, height. So to break the mould and to then say to a brand manager well forget the brief that you're giving me, this is my brief, it's going to be more of a hard sell and I think it's going to be limiting unfortunately. I think it's great what they're doing with the programme but .. JAMES I mean I would say yes it will be a hard sell but it would be fantastic if it happens, it would be really great if it happens and it should be happening. BARCLAY Dug, what are you doing to ensure that the tone is right, this is already causing quite a stir on the 麻豆约拍's disability message boards, there are those who fear that it will promote an unrealistic image of disability, others feel that it will turn into a bit of a charity show - ah isn't it nice that disabled people are doing something? JAMES I mean it's definitely not the latter. Looking at the girls who are applying already for the show they're very determined, they want to succeed and they want to be in the modelling industry and they have all of the attributes of anyone that wants to take part in a competition of this kind. And we're working with a lot of the disabled organisations, we're working - we have disabled members of our production team, we are working with the 麻豆约拍 disability unit very closely to make sure that this isn't a show that's in any way derogatory or any way looking down at the kind of people that are taking part, it's very much a show that's an entertainment show. BARCLAY And applications close on Monday, eight contestants will be selected. When does it go out? JAMES It will be going out in the summer. BARCLAY Dug James, Maya Schultz and Julie Fernandex, thank you all for joining us. Back to the Transcripts homepage Back to the You and Yours homepage The 麻豆约拍 is not responsible for external websites

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