ASOS Christmas Catwalk at Chailey charity

Employees from the leading online fashion destination chose Chailey Heritage Foundation for its Give a Day Away scheme, which allows staff an additional day off each year to support a charity or do something for the community.

ASOS executives Niall Underwood and Melissa Reeve spent their day with the young people at Chailey Heritage, providing everything the teenagers would need for a Christmas fashion shoot and catwalk show.

Helen Dunman, a teacher at Chailey Heritage School, said: “With the help of Niall and Melissa, our students were able to choose their own look and express their style.

“They experimented with cosmetics and it was incredible to see that young people who would normally find it very difficult to engage with activities, were suddenly very fascinated and were willing to experiment with various make-up products. This in itself is an incredible accomplishment.”

Melissa, global head of brand strategy management at ASOS said: “Fashion is a non-verbal form of expression. It’s very sensorial and we wanted the young people at Chailey to have access to fashion items, and experiment with clothes and make-up.

“Our aim was also to bring in the element of choice, and the freedom to be playful with the items by mixing different styles of clothing together”.