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fashion week

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FASHION

I’m a model who has worked in high fashion since I was 15. I’m now using TikTok to expose the dark side of the industry.

A picture of Karoline Bjørnelykke in 2012 next to a picture of her from 2022.

Bjørnelykke walked the runways at Paris Fashion Week in 2012 when she was 16.Kirstin Sinclair/Getty Images and Karoline Bjørnelykke

  • Karoline Bjørnelykke started modeling when she was a size zero. She’s now considered plus-size.

  • She said the industry encourages dieting; she now makes TikToks sharing her eating disorder journey.

  • This is Karoline’s story, as told to Charissa Cheong.

  • Editor’s note: This story discusses eating disorders and may be triggering for some readers.

Editor’s note: This story discusses eating disorders and may be triggering for some readers.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with model Karoline Bjørnelykke. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I was never the cool kid in school, so when I got scouted to become a model at 15, I was really quite surprised.

I worked in high fashion throughout my teenage years, walking the runway at Paris Fashion Week in 2012, and moving from my home in Norway to model abroad. It was weird because I went from feeling like no one wanted to talk to me to getting invited to lots of events where everyone wanted to be my friend.

Things took a bad turn pretty quickly. While I was away from home, I was living on an extreme diet to maintain my figure. I have struggled with anorexia since the age of 12 because even though I wasn’t overweight, I was naturally a bit bigger than other kids in terms of height and build, so I got bullied by my peers.  The extreme dieting during my early years as a model made my eating disorder a lot worse.

A picture of Bjørnelykke when she was 12 years old.

A picture of Bjørnelykke at 12 years old, when she was already 5 foot 7 inches tall.Karoline Bjørnelykke.

I came back to Norway five years ago and started to focus on

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FASHION

5 Models Bringing More Diversity to Fashion’s Runways

Season by season, more models of diverse ethnicities, sizes, ages and abilities, among other things that set them apart from what has long been fashion’s standard, appear on fashion runways.

From beloved newer labels like Hanifa, to fashion editorials and storied maisons like Valentino, all are casting a wider net when it comes to who debuts the newest creations for the consuming public.

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Here, WWD highlights five diverse models helping change the face of fashion’s runways.

Achieng Agutu

The self-proclaimed “tantalizing confidence queen,” Kenyan influencer Achieng Agutu is breaking barriers as a curvy model, making her runway debut this June at womenswear label Hanifa’s spring 2022 ready-to-wear show, and in July for Black-owned swimwear brand Matte Collection’s show at Miami Swim Week.

With more than 471,000 followers on Instagram, Agutu inspires her fans through Instagram video monologues that focus on empowering women to become their most confident, stylish and healthy selves. Even before modeling, Agutu had secured partnerships for social media campaigns with brands like Valentino, Beyoncé’s Ivy Park, Marc Jacobs and Moët.

Emira D’spain

Content creator and model Emira D’spain is already heating up the industry, making history in February by becoming the first Black transgender woman to work with Victoria’s Secret. The influencer, with more than 1 million followers on TikTok, teamed up with the lingerie brand to promote social content for Valentine’s Day, posting a video, titled, “Single Girl’s Guide to the Perfect Valentine’s Day” showing people how to enjoy the holiday without a partner.

In June D’spain partnered with skin care brand Clinique on its first NFT makeup collection called “#MetaverseLikeUs,” an initiative whose aim is to bring more underrepresented groups into the metaverse.

Alaato Jaztper

Standing at a stunning 5’9″, Sudanese model Alaato Jazyper Michael is already making

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FASHION

Animal Liberation art show stresses compassion over fashion

A cartoon pig being slaughtered on an assembly line. Quotes from philosophers about the suffering of critters. These aren’t your usual big-money New York billboard campaigns. But these artists aim to raise awareness of animal rights during New York Fashion Week, starting August 29, by hosting a group show displayed on billboards.

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“Taking place during one of the biggest events of the annual fashion calendar, New York Fashion Week, Animal Liberation will provide a much-needed critique of the inhumane use of animal products like fur and leather in the fashion industry,” according to a statement released by the artists.

Related: 5 standout brands from Vegan Fashion Week 2021

New York illustrator Praxis Vgz is curating the Animal Liberation art show in collaboration with arts platform SaveArtSpace. A South American graphic designer, illustrator and stencil artist, Vgz started out working in Colombia in 2009. Since moving to New York City in 2014, Vgz’s work has centered on animal rights and cruelty-free company.

Three other artists will also be showing their animal rights-related work on the billboards. Brazilian artist Camila Rosa started her career in 2010 with a female street art collective. Since then, she’s graduated to working with big-name clients like Apple, Netflix and Adidas. Fashion Weekers will pass beneath Rosa’s artwork of frowning women holding a rabbit, baby goat and piglet.

British illustrator and animal rights activist Kate Louise Powell calls on famous philosophers like Jeremy Bentham to help make her point. She pairs an illustration of two apparently skinned but living rats held in the gloved hands of researchers with Bentham’s assertion: “The question

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FASHION

Everything You Need To Know About The SS23 Shows

Photo credit: Erdem SS22, Victor VIRGILE - Getty Images

Photo credit: Erdem SS22, Victor VIRGILE – Getty Images

London Fashion Week will be back in September for the Spring/Summer shows, running from September 16 to 20. More than 100 designers have been confirmed on the provisional hybrid digital-physical schedule, released by the British Fashion Council.

The upcoming instalment marks Burberry‘s return to the LFW calendar, after a digital-only hiatus, and Raf Simons, who has previously shown his collections in Paris and New York, will make his LFW debut too.

As for the BFC NewGen show space, it will return to The Old Selfridges Hotel – the same location that hosted the biggest real-life shows at last year’s spring offering. Back then, more than half of collections were presented digitally due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition to physical shows being more prevalent this time around, the return of the BFC’s city-wide celebration – a curated programme of events focused on ‘inclusivity and consciousness’ – is just one of the reasons LFW will be extra special this year (there’s more on this below).

Here’s everything you need to know about London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 23:

Which designers will be showing collections at the London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2023 shows?

The provisional schedule for LFW SS23 has revealed that brands such as Emilia Wickstead, Erdem, JW Anderson, Huishan Zhang, Molly Goddard and Simone Rocha will be debuting their collections for the season.

They will be joined by the likes of Burberry, Raf Simons, Molly Goddard, Rejina Pyo and Roksanda.

Photo credit: Victor VIRGILE - Getty Images

Photo credit: Victor VIRGILE – Getty Images

Fashion Fund winner Richard Quinn is set to return to the LFW calendar, as well as Fashion Trust recipients Completedworks, Richard Malone, Supriya Lele and Tove.

Raf Simons will present his collection physically, and shows including Molly Goddard, Burberry, JW Anderson, Simone

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