Mayor urged to withdraw London Fashion Week funding

London Fashion Week could face yet another blow, after Mayor Boris Johnson was asked to withdraw funding following the British Fashion Council's decision to change its strategy over 'size zero'

Dee Doocey, a Liberal Democrat London assembly member, has urged Johnson to pull funding after the BFC was forced to abandon its plans for models to undergo health checks, due to a lack of international support.

Meanwhile, Eleni Renton, founder of Quintessentially Models, has called on the London Development Agency (LDA) to withdraw its £4.5 million grant from this month's event.

"I am sorely disappointed by the decision, it was very weak of the BFC," she told the Telegraph.

"I think the LDA should pull its funding for London Fashion Week. It is totally wrong that public money is funding something that is clearly unhealthy and I have written to the LDA to tell them this."

"Introducing those health checks would have helped in tackling the size zero issue - I find it embarrassing that we are not even giving it a go. Unless the recommendations are actually enforced, they are just gimmicky sound bites."

Cutting funding would spell the latest disaster for LFW, which has already been marred by the BFC's back-down on model health checks, and a fear that the event may overlap with New York Fashion Week. Ironically, the Council of Fashion Designers of America recently announced it would set-up model health booths at New York Fashion Week, after it was criticised for not fully supporting the BFC's guidelines.

"Saying it is unworkable and that other cities wouldn't follow is nonsense. London should be the first city to step up to the plate and do it and then other cities will follow," Renton added.