​Manchester’s Trafford Centre is claiming a “pioneering shopping centre first” by appointing five diverse models as faces for its AW24 fashion campaign.

After a summer search with a talent agency, five models were selected after an open casting call of 500 to “promote inclusivity and representation in the fashion industry”.

The open casting call “welcomed people with disabilities, visible differences, models aged 35+, and those who are part of the LGBTQIA community”.

The five faces include south Asian mum Husna; Charlotte who has autism and health needs; Faith, a trained dancer who has alopecia; Kai, who has had spinal surgery; and Sam, a singer and musician who represents older models.

They will represent the official line-up of Trafford Centre’s upcoming AW24 fashion campaign while also winning a contract with agency Zebedee Talent to kickstart their modelling careers.

Simon Layton, Centre Director at Trafford Centre, said: “As a retail centre we have been heavily focused on our societal impact and what we can do better, and moving towards more diverse representation across Trafford Centre is a welcome move. Our recent ‘For Our Future’ report highlighted many of the actions we have taken over the past 12 months across everything from charity support to offering the real living wage, as well as making sure all who visit and work for Trafford Centre feel supported, represented and heard.”

He added: “The impact of the campaign with Zebedee is a huge focus for us this season, and after a hugely successful start to the year with boosted footfall and sales we can’t wait to see the impact of welcoming such a mix of new faces to the centre.”

The campaign launch will underpin a “successful first half of the year for the centre”, which saw improved footfall and sales figures rising with a 9% year-on-year compared to 2023. It said H1 saw a boost from new launches, including beauty giant Sephora, “which saw huge interest from shoppers and continue to drive footfall and revenue”.