Queen of the wrap dress and CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg may have caused controversy last year when she unknowingly sent an underage model down her catwalk, but we’ll forgive her seeing as she’s just taken an even bigger step to protect young models.

In a press release reiterating the CFDA’s recommended Health Initiative Guidelines, which states models must be at least 16 years old to catwalk, the designer, along with Steven Kolb, has promised that “any model walking in the Diane von Furstenberg runway will have shown i.d. prior to the show”.

And it seems the pair is hoping other designers follow suit: “The industry must work together to support this and insist that models show i.d. to casting agents or to someone on the production team.

“We do impact the lives of women and we can set a strong example of a well balanced life on our runways.”

As well as recommending that models be asked for i.d. to ensure that they are at least 16 years old on the day of a show, the CFDA’s Health Initiative Guidelines also suggest designers avoid having models under the age of 18 work past midnight at fittings. It also covers information on labour laws and the signs of eating disorders, which you can view at www.cfda.com/health-initiative.

Kolb and von Furstenberg added that on behalf of The Model Alliance, they also want to encourage those in the industry to consider model privacy and to have photographers cleared for first looks.

“This season we must continue to celebrate diversity and embrace the message that Health is Beauty. It is important that we share these values with the world,” they said, and the team at modelling agency Models Direct couldn’t agree more.