We were pleased to read an article applauding the unionisation of models and the birth of the Model Alliance in America (Fashion's real victims, 14 February). However, Ms Gold failed to mention in her article that Equity has, since December 2009, welcomed models into the union and has painstakingly carried out work on their behalf since that time. Working with the British Fashion Council as part of the Model Programme, Equity has succeeded in establishing the first minimum guidelines for the employment of models on a catwalk at London fashion week, which provides, among other things, that no model under 16 years of age is employed. The current priorities of Equity's models' committee are ensuring that models under 16 enjoy the full protection of regulations that apply to child performers, that models work under the best possible terms and conditions and that they do not work for free!
So yes, hurrah for the Model Alliance, but let us not forget our home-grown trade union, which has been representing models now for some years!
Hilary Hadley
Head of live performance dept, Equity
• The subheading of Tanya Gold's article states that "it's little wonder models have finally unionised". But the Model Alliance in the US is not a union. The Alliance's founder, Sara Ziff, in a piece on the Guardian's website (1 February) states: "We are not a union. We are a non-profit group working with the industry trying to establish basic rights." Yet in Britain, Equity is a union and has been organising models since 2009. This suggests there is more than one way to skin the proverbial tiger of the untrammelled power of the industry's movers and shakers.
Professor Gregor Gall
University of Hertfordshire
• I applaud Tanya Gold's concern for young anorexic models. However, the Guardian uses stick-thin models to display the fashions in the Saturday magazine. The models are displaying clothes that could not possibly be worn by most ordinary women. The models also look so miserable that perhaps they are not enjoying the photoshoot. Please, if only occasionally, let us see happy models dressed in clothes that we can aspire to.
Ann Lynch
Skipton, North Yorkshire