Known as the birthplace of edgy designer clothes, London Fashion Week has taken a new direction.

The fashion industry has changed in the past few years, with smart designers responding to widespread changes in attitudes. This means that having a wardrobe with a conscience is now almost as important as celebrity endorsement.

Today, for the first time in its history, the British Fashion Council – which runs the iconic London Fashion Week – has added a sustainable catwalk show to its program. While ethical fashion has existed on the periphery of the industry for some time, it now finds itself sharing the limelight thanks to acclaimed international designers such as Christopher Kane and Burberry.

Clarence House is the setting for the open air event which will see established designers such as Vivienne Westwood and Stella McCartney joined by the likes of People Tree and Junky Styling – the former known for its celebrity partnership with Sienna Miller and Emma Watson. While both Westwood and McCartney will have later shows in London and Paris, their presence at the ethical runway adds significant clout and influence.

The show will be held in conjunction with the Prince’s Charities Foundation initiative START, which seeks to promote and celebrate sustainable living. London Fashion Week is already the site of Esthetica, the static exhibition which showcases those designers on the edge with a commitment to eco-sustainability.

Noemie Lenoir, the stunning French supermodel know for M&S adverts, is recovering in a Paris hospital after an alleged suicide attempt.

Lenoir, who has become a household name in the UK, apparently tried to kill herself while at the house of her former boyfriend, French footballer Claude Makelele, by a potentially lethal combination of alcohol and pills.

Lenoir is most well-known as the £10 million former face and body of Marks & Spencer. Lenoir, 30, has also fronted fashion campaigns for Next, Victoria’s Secret, l’Oreal and Gap. She is presently in a high-profile relationship with Carl Hirschmann, the controversial Swiss millionaire.

The model was discovered near the home of Makelele, in a forest on the outskirts of Paris. It is believed that she had been drinking a large volume of alcohol – thought to be spirits – and taken several types of drugs while she was staying at the footballer’s home, though no details of exactly what was taken have as yet been released. Makelele, at the time, was in Paris to accept a footballing lifetime achievement award.

Earlier in the evening, Lenoir had telephoned an ambulance, advising operators that she had become very ill, but then called back to cancel the dispatch. She was later seen heading groggily in the direction of the woods, where she was found by another passer-by who was out for a walk with his dog.

She later regained consciousness at the hospital, but is still showing signs of what medical staff described as an obvious attempt to hurt herself.

One of the planet’s most influential female fashion bloggers has slammed the use of curvaceous models on the catwalk.

Une Fille Comme Moi (A Girl Like Me) blogger Garance Dore, whose webpage garners some 50,000 hits every day, said that the recent trend towards plus models by leading fashion houses such as Louis Vuitton and Prada were little more than a gimmick.

The 35-year-old photographer turned fashion critic told reporters in Paris that the industry was being naive and presumptuous to assume that the catwalk was a place for differing body shapes, but did acknowledge that this may change in the future. Right now, it seems, Dore feels the best outfits should be worn on the best bodies.

Dore said that the concept should not be treated as a big deal, so to speak, but that UK Fashion Week had deliberately made a joke of the concept, aiming for shock value and publicity for being seen to be progressive in its approach.

Dore further said that the use of larger models by magazines to project a healthy body image was unconvincing, a reference to the French glossy Elle whose latest edition features the plus-sized Tara Lynn on the cover and in a 20-page luxury label collection. Also, the January edition of V magazine was a Size issue, with both Lynn and fellow buxom beauty Crystal Renn both featuring, heavily.

Somewhat controversially, Dore said that it was not necessarily a good thing to showcase plus sized models because they were not really physically healthy.

It’s that time of year again when Bradford searches for its future catwalk stars.

The Telegraph & Argus Modelsearch 2010 competition is open to all-comers aged upwards of four years, with the chance for representation by professional agency DK models being the main prize. Anyone who wishes to partake in the Modelsearch contest is invited to join the celebrations at Bradford’s Kirkgate Centre on Sunday, May 16th.

The preliminary heats will be held on this date with the finalists also chosen. Those lucky enough to make it to the final will be asked to return to Kirkgate for the culmination of events which are scheduled for Monday 31st May – Bank Holiday Monday.

The Kirkgate Centre manager Catherine Riley welcomed the latest edition of the popular competition, which she said offers a rare insight for the public into the modelling world. The face of Modelsearch 2010, 18-year-old Bradford resident Sissi Crespo Gonzalez, was last year’s overall winner, enjoying DK Models’s representation free for one year.

Past winners of the Modelsearch contest have gone on to star in campaigns for the like of Sports Direct, Vidal Sassoon and Argos. There are four categories for the event, beginning at four to six, then seven to ten, and also 11 to 15 and finally 16 and over. There is no size or age limit on the latter. Entry forms are available at the Kirkgate Centre and winners will also receive a range of shopping vouchers for local outlets.

The catwalks of Milan, Paris, New York and London have all featured an age-old display in recent weeks - literally. What was once thought to be a catwalk ‘no-no’ is now seen as key to attracting an altogether new market, although some may still be shocked to find the presence of gray hair on the runways.

The stars of the fall fashion shows were, surprisingly, more mature models – some even well into their forties. In the fashion world, such a concept was once unthinkable, but the move reflects the new marketing approach to the real consumer. The initiative is a far cry from teen models that more often cannot even buy a new dress on a credit card or drive to the show.

Calvin Klein’s creative director, Francisco Costa, said the decision was certainly a break from tradition but that he was aiming for his models to represent a true reflection of the purchasing public, pointing out that this was unlikely to be your average 16-year-old.

Costa’s latest collection featured the distinctly gray-haired Kristen McMenamy, who was also featured at Viktor & Rolf, in addition to ’90s sensations and modern-day mothers Stella Tennant and Kirsty Hume.

Costa admits that the economic downturn, which has led to global purse-strings being tightened, have forced a rethink in the marketing approach of the industry. Using older, curvier models will also counter the ever-present complaints over wafer-thin runway girls.

The new approach is aimed by the fashion industry at making itself more relatable to its prime customers. A slew of eighties beauties, including Elle MacPeherson, Alessandra Ambrosio and Miranda Kerr are all now being lined up by the likes of Marc Jacobs.