Emmanuel Ray

Emmanuel Ray is a London-based television presenter and socialite.^[1] He won Fashion Icon of the Year 2011^[2] at Fashions Finest Awards UK, and was nominated for London Personality of the Year at London Lifestyle Awards 2012.^[3][4]

Ray has appeared on BBC One, RTÉ, S4C, World Fashion Channel, Fashion TV, Vogue TV, GBC, BBC Asian Network, Brit Asia TV,^[5] YGTV, Spectrum FM, SLBC, ITN, E4, ITV, Break London Radio, On FM, Gaydar Radio, Stonewall Live USA and various other publications in print and online.

Ray wrote a society column, ‘Diary of an It Boy’, in 2009. The column gave an account of fashion, show business and lifestyle from a man’s perspective. It first appeared in Express Broadcast UK's website, and on Pride Life Magazine. From 2010 onwards, the column appeared on Laissez Faire, a London-based free newspaper focusing exclusively on art and culture. 'Diary of an It Boy' was also the newspaper's only column to appear in print twice, and in five digital publications simultaneously, on a monthly basis; Superstar Magazine, Break London Radio’s website, The Style Column, Work in Fashion, My Kali Mag and kontraPLAN fashion journal.

Career

Ray started his career at the age of 6, as a dancer and child performer. He became a model at the age of 15, and a presenter and commentator (focusing on fashion & show business) in his late 20s. He has worked on events, shows and promotions for various brands including Volkswagan, Hutchison Whampoa, Estee Lauder, Gucci, Armani, Roberto Cavalli, Guerlain, Givenchy, Nicole Farhi, Oriflame, Sri Lanka Tourism and Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation.

Ray has also appeared, presented at and reported from a variety of shows including London Fashion Week, Clothes Show Live, Ideal Home Show, Alternative Fashion Week, The Only Way is Essex Christmas special, Made in Chelsea, and various showbiz parties, launch events and fashion shows.^[2] He has also hosted media events at the BBC TV Centre and BBC White City.^[6]

Ray inaugurated Fashion Week Gibraltar in Spring/Summer 2012.^[7] In the same year, he also reported from Brighton Fashion Week and presented at the annual 46th Botswana Independence Day celebrations in London.^[8]

Causes

Ray has raised funds for and supported various charities including SOS Children’s Villages, Save The Children, Tree of Hope children’s charity, Great Ormond Street children’s hospital, London Evening Standard’s Dispossessed Fund, St Mary’s Hospital Pædiatric Unit, Look Ahead Housing & Care, Shelter, Samaritans, Photovoice, Portugal Prints, Derbyshire Hepatitis C Charity, Sri Lanka Christian Association, Castledon School (Essex) for children with special needs and the School Bus Project for children in Sexaxa village, Maun, Botswana.

He has worked with and supported St. Annes Church food and sheltering project for homeless people in Hoxton, London Hackney, and with the Hackney Unites community project.

Ray has supported human rights and peace campaigns, representing Britain in Los Angeles’s celebrity-led NOH8 Campaign^[9] against California Proposition 8 supporting marriage equality, and in the international All Out campaign for against the Ugandan government’s controversial Kill The Gays bill.^[10] He was also involved in the Ministry for Peace campaign in British Parliament, 4D for World Peace by Uniting for Peace, and has campaigned for the Ceylon Workers Congress in Sri Lanka, supporting poor manual labourers in the tea plantation sector.^[11] Ray also tutored children of refugees displaced by the Sri Lankan civil war.

References

External links

• Interview with Britain’s First It Boy – Emmanuel Ray