Interviews

UNATTAINABLE IMAGES OF BEAUTY

POV (PBS) Interview for the broadcast of Girl Model – March 2013

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“THE FASHION INDUSTRY” for Les Francs-Tireurs – 2013

With Rachel Blais, Francesca Tedeschi & Meredith Wright

Watch on Youtube // Watch from Canada on Tele-Quebec

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ENTERTAINEMENT TONIGHT – 2012

  TORONTO STAR – April 2012 “In the West, we say (child labour) is not right, yet we’re doing the same thing by putting these girls in the magazines,” says Blais.“It’s a part of modelling that’s not talked about at all,” says Blais. “The young girls, who are travelling the world to represent the image of the perfect woman when they’re still children.”

 

CNN – April 2012 “Using 15-year-old girls to represent the ideal woman makes me think that a woman of 25, 30, 40 years old looks at those billboards and at a magazine and is looking at girls … disguised as women promoting clothing for women,” she said. “You can’t ever go back to being 15.”

 

REEL SCREEN – April 2012 “Well, ever since the premiere at Toronto, work has gone down quite a bit actually. Maybe it’s pure coincidence, but when it goes on for quite a few months, it kind of feels like they’re trying to censor me in a certain way.”

 

FASHION MAGAZINE – April 2012 “How come we have these pictures of these underage girls in a magazine yet if you have a picture at home with the same pose you can be sued in a criminal way for child pornography? If you’re not in the fashion industry, it’s criminal. If you are in the fashion industry, that’s legal?”

 

GLOBAL TV MORNING SHOW – April 2012 Model Rachel Blais joins the show to talk about the documentary, Girl Model, a film that shows the dark side of the modeling world.

 

THE AUSTRALIAN (THE SUNDAY TIMES UK) – February 2012 “Rachel Blais, 26, a French-Canadian model who was first spotted at the age 14 and has worked in all the main fashion capitals, said she wanted to see a ban on under-18s modelling adult clothes.”Girls get scouted from the age of about 12, but on average it’s about 13 or 14 years old,” Blais said. “We are putting these girls in a sexual context.”

 

THE DAILY STAR – February 2012

“French-Canadian model Rachel Blais wants under-18s banned from modelling adult clothing. Rachel, 26, who has modelled since 14, said: “Girls are expected to work from 6am until 2am during the show season. Often the girls don’t have time to eat.”
TNT MAGAZINE – February 2012
“It’s easier for the industry to use young girls because they can do whatever they want with them,” Blais says. “When you’re young, you don’t even know your rights exist. When you’re 15 or 16, that focus on how you look and whether you’re working becomes overwhelming.”
TORONTO STANDARD – September 2011

“This doesn’t only happen to Russian girls,” says Blais. “It’s a horror story for Canadians, Americans, all kinds of girls. For models, there is no protection. In London, they’ve opened a union for models, like an artists’ unions. But it took a year for founders to convince people that models are artists. No one wants to represent them.”

 

– For more press and interviews on Rachel’s Advocacy please email info@rachelblais.com

Foreign languages:

SALUT, BONJOUR – NATIONAL EATING DISORDERS AWARENESS WEEK & FASHION WEEK – February 2013
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DEIN SPIEGEL (Children’s Spiegel, Germany) – May 2012 DerSpiegel-Children
METRO (Canada) – May 2012  “Je ne suis pas du genre à croire que regretter va m’amener loin. Ce que je regrette, c’est que l’industrie ne voit pas à quel point elle pourrait faire un changement extraordinaire.”
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TOUT LE MONDE EN PARLE (TV interview – French CBC) – April 2012
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SALUT, BONJOUR (Canada)- April 2012
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MEDIUM LARGE (Radio show – French CBC) – April 2012
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  NGUOI LAO DONG (Vietnam) – April 2012  “Kể từ đó, Rachel Blais tích cực truyền bá Girl Model ở mọi liên hoan phim từ nhỏ đến lớn. Thời gian cô dành cho công việc không lương này nhiều hơn biểu diễn thời trang. Nhiều người mẫu ủng hộ cô nhưng không dám công khai vì sợ ảnh hưởng đến sự nghiệp. Vì vậy, người ta gọi Rachel Blais là “chiến sĩ người mẫu”.
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LA PRESSE (Canada) – March 2012
“Selon les Nations unies, tu es un enfant jusqu’à 18 ans, plaide-t-elle. J’aimerais aussi que ce soit illégal de voyager seul pour travailler quand on a moins de 18 ans.”
 La Presse- Rachel Blais
DER SPIEGEL (Germany) – February 2012
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