Acid Attack Scars Honored in the London Fashion Week 2016 Runway

At a charity gala event in the ongoing #LFW2016, two acid attack survivors take their strides on the catwalk along with top models to raise awareness on violence against women. According to The Guardian, the British Asian Trust and a charity, GMSP which advocates women’s rights are behind this powerful event.

London Fashion Week 2016: Promotes Fight vs Violence Against Women

24-year-old Adelle Bellis, from Lowestoft, and 26-year-old Laxmi Agarwal from Dehli are the two resilient women who will join a dozen other models in wearing clothes by Raishma, a British Asian designer, and shoe designer Lucy Choi. As they walk the catwalk, the words “resilience,” “respect,” and “honour” will be featured in the runway. In an interview with The Guardian, Sonal Sachdev Patel, CEO of GMSP, said that they wanted to remind everyone of the problem of violence against women rampant worldwide. Their goal is to honor the women who have survived such tragedy.

London Fashion Week 2016: Bellis and Laxmi 

The Times reveals that Bellis and Laxmi were both disfigured by men who wanted to destroy their self-image and beauty. Bellis was scarred by her boyfriend which led to losing her ear permanently. Her boyfriend that time purposefully dropped Sulphuric acid on her head while waiting for at a bus stop in August 2014. Her ex-boyfriend was sentenced to life for the assault.

Laxmi’s account is also as shocking. She was attacked when she was only 15. A 32-year-old man poured acid all over her face while she was walking in the Delhi marketplace. This man wanted Laxmi to marry him, proposing almost ten months before the attack. Because she rejected the marriage proposal, she was attacked and at one point, even her family rejected her and she was forced to stay indoors. Now that she has spoken out, Laxmi has become one of India’s most prominent campaigners against such attacks with her organization called “Stop Acid Attacks.”

Both women are making a bold statement in the LFW Runway show. For once, as MarieClaire UK states, clothes aren’t going to be the centre of attention because this show is about the lives of the models themselves.