River Island Signs Six Children with Disabilities to Front New Campaign

Six children aged two to 11 are the newest faces to be announced as part of River Island’s latest campaign, “Labels Are For Clothes”

Marking its 30-year anniversary, River Island has joined forces with leading international anti-bullying charity Ditch The Label to spread the message that “labels are for clothes, not kids”. This is an extension of the labels are for clothes campaign, announced earlier this month, which featured 12 new spokespeople, all of whom have been subject to outdated social stereotypes at some point in their lives.

The new campaign heroes a core group of diverse children from across the UK. The kids, aged between two and 11, have each been diagnosed with various conditions, including Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy and eyesight issues.

Among the stars - all signed to Zebedee Management, an agency representing diverse models - is 10 year old Lois Groom.

Lois was born with 18q deletion syndrome, a rare condition that affects just one in 40,000 children. This meant she was born deaf, is hypermobile and also has delayed speech and learning difficulties.

Of course, this hasn’t stopped her from taking part in the campaign and enjoying every moment of it. Lois’ mother, Dawn Groom said, “I’m so proud of Lois. She absolutely loves being in front of the camera and is a real natural. Everyone has been saying she should become a model since she was a baby.”

“Lois tires easily so she finds a lot of clubs and hobbies really difficult, but modelling is great because it is fun and friendly and the time she has to perform is relatively short.”

On the collaboration, Laura Johnson and Zoe Proctor of Zebedee Management added, “We are delighted that River Island are using models with disabilities as the norm now.”

“We want disability diversity to become the norm in advertising and are working very hard to make this happen.”

In conjunction with the campaign, River Island is selling a range of t-shirts and sweatshirts for both men and women, of which £3 from every sale will be donated to Ditch The Label.