Video of ‘Britain’s Missing Top Model’…
July 4th, 2008
… has been posted on Youtube.
Among the high points: The show grapples with standard concepts of beauty; contestants discuss how they feel about their own disabilities and who is “worse off”; fashion industry people confess their discomfort and wonder whether disability “sells”; a photographer asks the model prospects if he can shoot their impairments; contestants cope with access problems; contestants pose in lingerie; and judges debate which prospect might make the best “role model.”
Quotes from the introduction:
Beauty sells. Beauty is perfection.
Competition to make it as a top model in the cut-throat world of fashion is second to none.
So what are the chances of a disabled woman making it in a world obsessed with perfection?
“God, New York would rather burn their city down than put a disabled model on the catwalk, I reckon.”
“Disability has a natural place in life, so why shouldn’t it be part of fashion?”
(BBC photo)


