All-Black Model Line-Up Hits London Fashion Week

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It seems that so far London Fashion Week has been more about the controversial model casting than the clothes. First Mark Fast sent three size 14 models down the catwalk and then PPQ cast the first ever all-black show in the capital. (Something Sophie Theallet did in New York last year). Picking up on an issue that’s been hotly debated in the fashion industry recently – just a fortnight ago Naomi Campbell said she thought the recession was harming black model’s chances to get cast – we decided to nip backstage to find out what had influenced PPQ’s Amy Molyneaux and Percy Parker decision. ‘During our castings for this show one gorgeous black girl after the other turned up and they just looked so amazing, we decided to snap up all of the best black girls for the show,’ Amy told us. ‘All the models today have been so great, calm, no tantrums, no hissy fits, it’s been totally chilled.’ Percy concurred: ‘It’s not something we really considered. We just wanted to find the most beautiful models and those were the best ones.’ But if the design duo didn’t think it was a big deal, the watching crowd certainly did. There were those that thought the casting was anything other than nonchalant and just a chance for PPQ to get a few extra column inches and those that celebrated the diversity. Former Destiny’s Child member Michelle Williams, perched on the front row, was one of the latter: ‘I don’t want to turn this into a race issue but I know this is what people are going to talk about. And it’s great that it’s happened here. I thought they were really regal.’