Watching Audience Members and Journalists Embarrass Themselves at a Dwarf Fashion Show in Paris

This article originally appeared on VICE France

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the third Dwarf Fashion Show to ever take place in Paris. The event was organised exactly like any other fashion show – except that the models were exclusively girls who suffer from dwarfism. The original idea was the result behind a partnership between Creative Business House – an American company that specialises in fashion services – and charity organisation Don’t Be Cheap.

I walked into the French Ministry of Culture, where the event was taking place and was initially shown to a huge, empty, golden room adorned with massive crystal chandeliers. That was where the catwalk had been set.

Two floors below, in a more corporate-looking space, the models were getting ready amidst chaos: Make up tools were everywhere, stylists were running around waving pieces of clothing and journalists shouted questions at the models or orders on their phones. Most of the attention was focused on the 11 models taking part in the show – all aged between 16 and 30.

To participate, a model had to be less than 4.2 ft but – in the words of Don’t Be Cheap president Dônya – “what really matters is the participant’s professionalism, just like with any other job.”

In fact, what I gathered from speaking to some of the girls is that a lot of them work a more “normal” day job and modelled on the side. Ismahan, for instance, works at a bank, Jordana is a P.E. teacher and Melissa is a club promoter.

Ten minutes before the show was meant to start, it transpired that some of the models could not climb the small staircase between the catwalk and the floor easily. That did little to ease their stress, which was already at a high level due mostly to journalists asking particularly embarrassing questions such as “What is the most difficult thing about being a dwarf?”

The show finally started, to the soundtrack of Britney Spears’ Pretty Girls and I felt uncomfortable when I noticed a couple of idiots, elbowing each other and snickering when they saw the models arriving; I had already come to the event feeling rather skeptical about its merits, but I slightly changed my mind when I saw members of the audience talking to the models at the cocktail reception afterwards. Events like this one might often feel tacky and patronising but they are still a powerful weapon against our own prejudices.

Matthieu is on Twitter. Follow him.

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