All Walks Beyond The Catwalk[1] is an initiative founded by Caryn Franklin, Debra Bourne and Erin O’Connor[2] in 2009 to challenge what it considers the fashion industry's dependence on unachievable and limited body and beauty ideals.

In 2009, eight new designers—William Tempest, Hannah Marshall, David Koma, Alexandra Groover, Avsh Alom Gur, Cooperative Designs, Mark Fast and Georgia Hardinge—were selected by a panel of industry experts to create a look representative of their Spring/Summer 2010 collections, focusing on diversity.

Shot by award-winning photographer Kayt Jones, and featured in the Pre-fall 09 issue of i-D magazine, the images provided the context for the All Walks Beyond the Catwalk launch party at Somerset House, sponsored by Marks and Spencer, on the opening night of London Fashion Week 2009.

It is open to any student in full-time or part-time education on any fashion, textiles, jewellery & accessory, graphic design, photography, journalism or illustration course, and is intended to encourage young creative people to consider diversity within their work.

The course is led by Director Mal Burkinshaw[11] and connects academics across the UK, facilitating knowledge exchange and the sharing of best practice on the theme of diversity and engagement with users’ needs and feelings.

For example, all fashion design projects at ECA now require the students to consider how their work will cater for the needs of a customer base varied in size, age, race and height.

The organisation is part of the UK government expert advisory committee on body confidence, previously chaired by former Equalities Ministers Lynne Featherstone and Jo Swinson.