'My first big job modelling was alongside Lizzo'

As a teenager, Rachel Peru flicked through fashion magazines, willing to try any fad diet that was being pushed to fit in with her peers. Now, at 56 years old, she travels the globe as a curve model and gets on stage in her underwear to teach other women about body confidence.

"I was surrounded by friends that were very tall and slim. I was curvier and bigger-busted," the model, from Skipton, remembers.

"I really struggled with my body confidence, I never felt good enough."

By the time Peru reached sixth form, she developed an eating disorder which stayed with her until her mid-20s.

"All of a sudden all of my peers were saying how great I looked and congratulated me and I felt like I fitted into that group for the first time," she says.

"But I was miserable because I really was struggling with maintaining a healthy diet."

When going through a divorce at 40 years old, the stress caused Peru to lose weight again and she was similarly met with praise from those around her.

"Actually, I was on antidepressants, I was probably drinking too much wine at the time and I was miserable," she says.

"So if they're saying that now, because I've dropped two sizes, when I put that weight back on, what are they really going to think about me?"

A turning point came when Peru's friend signed them up to walk in the annual Ilkley Macmillan Fashion Show, which was something out of her comfort zone.

"After several gin and tonics, I went on stage and I absolutely loved it," Peru admits.

"I used to do drama when I was younger and I had that same buzz waiting to go on stage that I used to have and love.

"It just lit something up in me and I came off walking taller and I felt so much better about myself."

For the next six years, Peru continued to volunteer at the show until she decided to take it a step further.

"There was actually a couple of professional models involved in that show and they were the ones that said to me, I really think that you've taken to this, you should try it," Peru recalls.

"I thought, if I give it a go and I get something local to Leeds, it'd be a nice hobby.

"So I sent off really basic images across the country and I got signed with a London agency straight away."

Peru expected to get a couple of lifestyle jobs through her agency but was terrified to learn she was wanted for swimwear and lingerie campaigns.

"My first big job in my first year of modelling, I ended up in the Bahamas for a week alongside Ashley Graham and Lizzo," she says.

"That was a life-turning point for me because being surrounded by women that are naturally so self-confident in their body and so self-assured had a knock-on effect and it made a big impact on my mental well-being."

That feeling and the response from other women set Peru down a different path of "body acceptance".

"I am happy enough because I know it's an amazing vessel to make sure that I can do all the things that I'm doing and I'm loving life, so I'm grateful for it and I don't pick fault with it," she says.

To tackle the lack of representation in the fashion industry, Peru teamed up with her friend Tina Boden to do workshops with women.

A survey they conducted found 5% of women avoided going to the beach, swimming or exercising in public due to body confidence issues, which their events at Accepting Who We Are (AWWA) aim to improve.

"Women come together, they bring a picnic, we have a dip in the sea, and we just chat," Peru explains.

"Everyone wears their swimwear, and it's just a really safe space to just be yourself and we've had such a good response."

Peru and Boden have also embarked on a live lingerie mannequin tour, where they will stand in their underwear in a shop window for a few hours.

"Women then come in and get their bra fitted because we know so many women are wearing the wrong size bra, little things like that make a big difference to how you feel when you walk out the door," she says.

"There's never a typical day. I can be on set anywhere in the country or abroad some days, and then other days I'll be on stage talking in my bra and knickers to a group of women."

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