Topless activists protest against anorexic models at Milan Fashion week

London, Feb 26 ANI): Topless feminists clashed with police outside the Versace fashion show in Milan on Friday as they protested against the use of anorexic models.

The protesters, from the feminist group Femen, wore jeans and handwritten slogans such as "Fashion = Fascism" and "Anorexia" scrawled across their bare chests, the Daily Mail reported.

The three attractive women, understood to be model themselves, chanted outside the high-end fashion show while holding aloft handmade placards with the same mottos and "Models do not go to brothels".

However, Italian police forcibly blocked the protesters when they approached the entrance to the Versace Fall-winter 2012-2013 show during the Milan Womenswear Fashion Week.

Donatella Versace's own daughter and heir to the fashion throne, Allegra, has been battling anorexia for years.

The fashion house sparked controversy at previous fashion shows last year over its use of incredibly thin models.

Femen is a Kiev-based provocative women's movement in Ukraine, founded in 2008 by Anna Hutsol.

The organisation became internationally known for organizing topless protests against sex tourists, international marriage agencies, sexism and other social, national and international ills.

The women did their best to gain access to the fashion show but were thwarted by police who escorted them away from the premises

Even though there were only three of them, the protesting models from Ukrainian feminist group Femen caused quite a stir outside the show.

The organisation states its goals as "to develop leadership, intellectual and moral qualities of the young women in Ukraine" and "to build up the image of Ukraine, the country with great opportunities for women".

It now appears that campaigning against anorexia has shot to the forefront of their agenda following the continued use of size zero models in fashion shows across the globe despite increasing media and social pressure to put an end to the practice.

The protest comes just two days before America's National Eating Disorder Awareness (NEDA) Week that starts tomorrow.

Following New York Fashion week, the association said the American fashion industry was making steps "in the right direction", after the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) set new guidelines to ensure the health of runway models. (ANI)

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