Paris Fashion Week got physical when half-naked members from feminist group Femen ran onto the catwalk during the Nina Ricci show
Paris Fashion Week got physical when half-naked members from feminist group Femen ran onto the catwalk during the Nina Ricci show.
The topless activists - who crashed Versace's AW2013 show in Milan - had painted slogans on their chests like 'Model Don't Go To Brothel' in black marker and wore only black jeans and trainers when they disrupted the ladylike elegance of the Nina Ricci show in Paris' Tuileries Gardens.
Two Femen protesters stormed the runway, screaming 'fashion fascism' and waving their arms as front-rowers including Olivia Palermo and Anna Dello Russo looked on.
Things got physical when one of the protesters grabbed 18-year-old British model Hollie-May Saker's arm and tried to lift her skirt as the model was making her way down the catwalk, leading Saker to punch the Femen activist smack in the face. (Who says models can't hold their own - especially when protecting their favourite fashions?)
'I punched her - I didn’t mean to but she grabbed my arm and I just wanted to get her off me,' Saker later told reporters.
'My Scouseness came out a bit but I wish it had come out a bit more. Thinking about it now I wish I’d pushed them both off the stage because they ruined my favourite show.'
'I was so angry but I knew I had to be professional so I carried on walking with a bit of sassiness. I had been looking forward to the Nina Ricci show for so long, whether I was modelling in it or not, it’s such a beautiful collection.
'I was really worried to come backstage but nobody said anything – I felt bad the moment it happened and I was very shaken up by it.'
The members of the radical feminist Ukrainian group, known for their topless antics, were escorted out of the show by security guards.
That's what we love about fashion week - you never know what to expect...
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