Gucci sparks row as it forces top models to ditch London shows and fly to Milan early

Gucci sparks row as it forces top models to ditch London shows and fly to Milan early

Gucci has been accused of 'stealing' top models from London Fashion Week shows, throwing the event into turmoil. 

Models who had already been booked for shows in London were forced to pull out and fly to early castings arranged by the Italian design house in Milan. 

A number of high profile shows at London Fashion Week were affected by Gucci's decision, with the Monday show's hit by the decision including Todd Lynn, who lost 10 of the 19 models booked, Erdem, Michael Van Der Ham, Temperley, Aquascutum and Louise Grey.

Wielding power: Todd Lynn lost 10 of their 19 models when Gucci forced girls to pull out and fly to Milan early

Carole White, founder of Premier Model Management, weighed in on the issue, telling the London Evening Standard: 'Gucci did the trick that they’ve been doing for the last two seasons, calling girls into Milan for pre-casting. It’s disrespectful.'

Shows had already been plunged into crisis at the beginning of London Fashion week on Friday, when Marc Jacobs' New York show ran so late that models missed the last flight to London and had to be pulled from Friday's shows.

Many took the decision to pull out of the London timetable and instead focus on Milan.

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Modelling agencies have accused the British Fashion Council, which organises London Fashion Week, of poor scheduling. 

Ms White said: 'If the people in power don’t do something quickly then all the hard work everyone’s done in London could be undone.

'London has the most incredible talent and we’re wasting it with rubbish scheduling.

'The people who do the scheduling have a duty of care to the models — they’re not cattle.'

Nick Burns, from Star & Co which casted for Todd Lynn and PPQ, added: 'The upshot of all this will be that models will stop coming to London altogether because it’s just not worth it.'

Caroline Rush, chief executive of the BFC, said: 'Historically, there have always been challenges regarding models in London. 

'Over the past year, we have invested time in developing direct relationships with model agencies to better understand their challenges.'

Gucci spokesman Robert Triefus said: 'We’re constantly in touch with London Fashion Week and I have a very open dialogue with Caroline Rush.

'We have not changed our scheduling for three years, and the issue on this occasion is that Marc Jacobs’s show was delayed. Maybe it would be appropriate for London to sit down with New York to see if it could be shortened to help with scheduling.

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