Belgian woman who was doused with acid by her jilted lover poses for new Rankin campaign to highlight the 'tremendous pain and suffering' of survivors

London-based fashion photographer Rankin, famous for his portraits of supermodels, A-listers and royals, has done his part in a new campaign to prevent devastating acid attacks.

Working not with a “super” or a famous face, but with acid attack survivor Patricia Lefranc, Rankin has created a Look Book – a catalog of photos taken to promote fashion designers' latest styles – to highlight the terrible to highlight the impact that acid attacks have on survivors' lives.

In collaboration with Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTi), the project culminated in The Tear Couture Look Book, a series of monochrome portraits that wouldn't look out of place in a high-end designer's advertising campaign.

The Look Book, with a foreword by the charity's patron, HRH The Princess Royal, tells survivor and campaigner Lefranc's personal story of the sulfuric acid attack by her jilted lover Richard Remes in 2009.

After the attack, Lefranc was in a coma for three months and had to stay in the hospital for nine months, where he slowly learned to live again.

The Tear Couture Look Book, featuring a series of monochrome images by Lefranc, was also created to raise awareness of the link between acid attacks and the fashion, textile, retail and manufacturing industries as they exist in the Global South.

In one photo, Lefranc looks straight into the camera and holds up a photo of himself taken before the attack.

The powerful shot suggests that Lefranc is still mourning her former appearance and everything that was cruelly taken from her during the attack.

Lefranc noted, “Many people are unaware of the tremendous pain and suffering that acid attack survivors go through.

“I am so grateful to Rankin for this opportunity to raise awareness of our situation and take steps together to prevent further attacks.”

During the incident, her nose and eyelids were melted away and she also lost a finger, sight in one eye and hearing in one ear. She also nearly died, as the corrosive substance nearly burned through her heart and lungs, but incredibly, her breast implants stopped further deterioration.

Patricia, who previously worked as a concierge, first met Remes when they lived in the same apartment building in Brussels in December 2008.

After a brief conversation in the elevator, he asked her out for drinks and more dates followed.

But after several meetings, she was devastated to learn that Remes was married with five children, and she ended the relationship.

She added: 'I was shocked and said we should just be friends – we hadn't slept together and I wasn't about to break up a family.'

Patricia before her former lover Richard Remes' acid attack in 2009

But Remes was determined to continue the relationship and the pair soon began meeting twice a week at Patricia's flat.

At some point his wife learned of the arrangement and threw him out, but Remes returned to his family while continuing to meet Patricia in secret.

It was only during a holiday in Egypt in 2009 that Patricia became aware of Remes' dark side when he started talking about violent films in which women were tortured and when they returned home she refused to see him again.

It was this event that sparked his increasingly obsessive behavior and shortly afterwards he was even spotted by locals wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Patricia's face and the words 'I love you'.

She alerted the police, but they told her she had to move and four days later she was visited in her flat on the outskirts of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean by Remes, disguised as a parcel courier.

As soon as she answered the buzzer, he splashed a container of acid over her face and upper body.

She said she was convinced she was going to die, but neighbors in a nearby building heard her screams and managed to take her to the burn unit of a nearby hospital, where she lay in a coma for three months. Her children, Laetitia, Marie and Joey, held a vigil next to her and Remes was arrested thanks to an eyewitness.

Remes, then 57, was found guilty of attempted murder by a jury in Brussels in 2012 and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

While Lefranc, 59, lives in Belgium, Rankin and ASTi hope the Look Book will reach beyond Europe to draw attention to the link between acid attacks and the fashion, textile, retail and manufacturing industries as they exist in the Global South.

Lefranc was attacked with sulfuric acid by a man she had been in a relationship with, was in a coma for three months and was hospitalized for nine months.

Lefranc, pictured reviewing the lookbook in which she stars, thanked Rankin for helping to tell her story and raise awareness towards stopping future acid attacks.

Research shows a link between legitimate business uses of acid and the incidence of acid attacks in the global south, particularly in areas where the fashion and textile industries require large amounts of sulfuric acid.

A report on acid violence from the Avon Global Center for Women and Justice, Cornell Law School and the Virtue Foundation states: 'In Bangladesh, for example, the incidence of acid violence is highest in districts where the acid-using clothing and jewelry industries operate. ruling.'

ASTI estimates that the number of global attacks exceeds 10,000 each year. But this is a very conservative estimate, as governments in many countries do not keep official records of acid attacks.

Rankin says: 'I have a special affinity with the fashion industry and I am very pleased with the changes that have taken place within the fashion industry in recent years to make it more sustainable and responsible.

“When ASTi explained to me the issue of acid misuse within supply chains, I knew I had to take action.”