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PARIS FASHION WEEK

FASHION

Small is beautiful: short models wow Paris

Bucking the fashion show stereotype of tall, willowy models, Paris Fashion Week was treated Friday to a parade of women of restricted growth sashaying along the runway to great public applause.

Small is beautiful: short models wow Paris
Photo: Dominique Faget/AFP

The only criteria for becoming one of the atypical models showing off the New York Creative Business House's tailor-made collection, was that you had to be under 1.30 metres (four feet four inches) tall.

The innovative show was created by the French “Donnons-leur une chance” (Give them a chance) association.

“The Dwarf Fashion Show”, as it's been dubbed, was in its third edition after debuting at last year's Paris Fashion week and a show last winter in New York.

Asian fashionistas will be able to enjoy the show next year when it is due to hit the Tokyo catwalks.

“It's to change people's ideas of us, and because I like fashion I wanted to be on the catwalk,” French model Emma told AFP.

“And it could give designers ideas of how to make clothes for us,” she added.

PARIS

Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Efforts to relocate wild rabbits that are a common sight on the lawns of the historic Invalides memorial complex have provoked criticism from animal rights groups.

Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Tourists and Parisians have long been accustomed to the sight of wild rabbits frolicking around the lawns of Les Invalides, one of the French capital’s great landmarks.

But efforts are underway to relocate the fluffy animals, accused of damaging the gardens and drains around the giant edifice that houses Napoleon’s tomb, authorities said.

Police said that several dozen bunnies had been captured since late January and relocated to the private estate of Breau in the Seine-et-Marne region outside Paris, a move that has prompted an outcry from animal rights activists.

“Two operations have taken place since 25 January,” the police prefecture told AFP.

“Twenty-four healthy rabbits were captured on each occasion and released after vaccination” in Seine-et-Marne, the prefecture said.

Six more operations are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.

Around 300 wild rabbits live around Les Invalides, according to estimates.

“The overpopulation on the site is leading to deteriorating living conditions and health risks,” the prefecture said.

Authorities estimate the cost of restoring the site, which has been damaged by the proliferation of underground galleries and the deterioration of gardens, pipes and flora, at €366,000.

Animal rights groups denounced the operation.

The Paris Animaux Zoopolis group said the rabbits were being subjected to “intense stress” or could be killed “under the guise of relocation”.

“A number of rabbits will die during capture and potentially during transport,” said the group, accusing authorities of being “opaque” about their methods.

The animal rights group also noted that Breau was home to the headquarters of the Seine-et-Marne hunting federation.

The police prefecture insisted that the animals would not be hunted.

In 2021, authorities classified the rabbits living in Paris as a nuisance but the order was reversed following an outcry from animal groups who have been pushing for a peaceful cohabitation with the animals.

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