Fashion Brand Pretty Little Thing (PLT) have issued a statement after coming under fire for their ‘chaotic’ casting call in London yesterday. 

Over 3000 hopefuls flocked to Great Portland Street after the fast fashion house announced they were looking for the ‘next face’ of their brand. However, it seems the casting directors didn’t anticipate just how many young girls would be vying for the spot and they were forced to end the in-person casting. Many took to social media to document the process, which for most seemed to include queuing for hours with little movement and without the guarantee of actually being seen.

 Despite this, young women came from near and far for the chance, with one girl proclaiming that she had traveled in from France just for the chance to be considered. In the hours since the failed casting call, even crazier stories have emerged about the lengths some young people went to just to attend the casting call. Perhaps the wildest of the stories was posted by X user @natashakendall_ who tweeted ‘The spell PLT / PrettyLittleThing have girls under is insane. Just seen a Tiktok of a girl who's 5 months pregnant saying she is in dire financial situation but borrowed money to go and try get casted to model for them, goodbye im finished’.

However, it was not only the aspiring models who took to social media to vent about the process, many London commuters and onlookers also criticised the casting. One such onlooker was ITV’s Martin Lewis, who witnessed the queues before mockingly tweeting ‘Just walked past streets and streets of beautiful, dressed up, young people queuing in Central London… Sadly I’m too busy to try out’. One fellow X user who responded, tweeted ‘I saw them. Mostly young girls all stood like cattle for hours just to be gawped at then told they're not what PLT is looking for. No idea why the company couldn't have staggered the auditions. No respect for females.’ 

Following the onslaught of criticism the brand has faced since Wednesday, PLT have released an apologetic post shared to the brands official Instagram page, where they told the hopefuls not to give up hope, stating they would be ‘continuing to cast in a more controlled manner’. In the caption of the much-liked post, the brand added:

A note to those who turned up yesterday… If you would still like to apply for our London casting, please upload a full-length photo and unfiltered video of yourself walking to camera along with a copy of your ID (must be 16 or over), social handles and full name...

We will contact successful applicants via DM who will be invited back to cast with us in person.”

Residents, let's hope the next round of casting goes much smoother!

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