London’s fashion victims

von Maud Largeaud , AdForum

While a staggering 85,000 women are raped in the UK annually, only 15% of victims report the attacks to the police. In fact many victims feel “partially responsible” for what has happened to them, due to their attitude or their clothing. The project #GuiltyClothes was launched to empower victims to go to the police and to challenge the idea that rape victims are somehow culpable. Guests at a mysterious catwalk show during London Fashion Week were surprised to see the models wearing banal everyday clothing. Then the big reveal: these were the actual outfits rape victims were wearing when they were attacked. Not provocative. Not erotic. A thought-provoking event that was later extended to other countries.