Leggy models shared the catwalk with a porcupine, a python and a yak at a fashion show to raise public awareness of animal welfare and Saint Petersburg’s zoo.
About a dozen animals in all — some on leashes, others in the models’ arms — strutted their stuff for the zoo, one of the oldest in Europe but hard-pressed for funds.
“Casting the models was not easy,” Tatiana Fedorishenko, the zoo’s deputy director, told AFP, referring to the human kind. “The animals in the show are tame, but the models have to be without fear, and comfortable with them.”
“It was hard,” confided one of the models, Natasha. “My fox was always trying to run away. I had trouble finishing my walk.”
The show was the bright idea of fashion designers in Russia’s second city, in solidarity with the 410 species and 2,000 animals at the zoo in Alexander Park that was founded in 1865.
“I’m taking part because of my compassion for animals,” said designer Vladislav Aksyonov. “I am flatly opposed to the use of natural fur and I also want to help our zoo.”
(AFP)
為了喚醒大眾對動物權益及聖彼得堡動物園的關注，長腿模特兒們和豪豬、蟒蛇及犛牛在一場時裝秀上同台走秀。
這場秀總共約有十幾隻動物登場，有些用鍊子拴著，有些則讓模特兒抱著，牠們為了動物園昂首闊步走秀；聖彼得堡動物園是歐洲歷史最悠久的動物園之一，卻一直飽受資金緊迫的壓力。
動物園副園長塔蒂安娜．費多黎斯涵柯對法新社說：「這次的模特兒徵選工作並不容易。參加時裝秀的動物雖然個性溫馴，但模特兒不能怕牠們，必須要自在地和牠們一起走秀。」
其中一位模特兒娜塔夏透露：「這真的很困難，和我搭配的狐狸一直想掙脫。我沒辦法完成走秀。」
俄國第二大城幾位時裝設計師想出舉辦時裝秀這個聰明的主意，來聲援這所成立於一八六五年、坐落在亞歷山大公園內的動物園中的四百一十種、兩千隻動物。
設計師凡拉第斯拉夫．阿克肖諾夫說：「我參與這個活動是源於我對動物的同情。我堅決反對使用動物毛皮，而且我也想對我們的動物園盡一己之力。」（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）