For the re-launch of her Esteem collection, designer Elle Cartwrite selects three models who she hopes will encapsulate the glamorous fantasy her customers want to buy into. Heavenly bodies, flawless faces - Charlotte, Becks and Tess project an image of bliss and fulfilment, inviting the beholder to share the magic that is Esteem. But the airbrushed smiles conceal a disturbing world of eating disorders, drug abuse, racial discrimination, exploitation and pain; where bodies are a battleground in the quest for physical perfection, and flaws are fatal.
During the hectic period leading up to Esteem's Fashion Week extravaganza, all the usual pressures, thrills and absurdities of the world of fashion are intensified as never before. Against this backdrop, Elle and her three models are forced to confront the spectres that have sabotaged their chances of finding true happiness - the loved ones who have let them down, the parasites who prey on them . . . and, most destructive of all, the demands they have placed upon themselves in pursuit of perfection.