![]() Chelsea’s mother, Lisa, recalls being rejected when they first started looking for modeling agencies for Chelsea. The recent push for inclusion aside, the fashion industry has all but shut out disabled models and consumers save for a few special occasions. Additionally, with campaigns like #BlackModelsMatter that launched in 2015 (the phrase was seen on model Ashley Chew’s tote bag in 2015), this year the industry has seen its most racially diverse Fashion Week in history with the spring 2018 shows. This is a small step, but a step nonetheless in the right direction. Calvin Klein was one of the designers named, and five years later, the brand has added black models to their fall 2018 ad campaign. In 2013, when Bethann Hardison, Iman, and Naomi Campbell demanded more inclusion of black models as a part of the Diversity Coalition, they named names. While the fashion industry has been reluctant to include a full range of diverse bodies, what any smart business is responsive to is demand. Campaigns such as Aerie’s most recent, featuring disabled models, disrupt existing visions of beauty and make space to both celebrate and market to a wider array of bodies.įor Jillian, Chelsea, and Mama Cax, the more their stars rise, the more they are in front of judgmental eyes as they reach a wider audience and an industry that doesn’t quite know what to do with the disabled celebrity. This makes the rise of models with disabilities revolutionary, calling into question an acceptable form of discrimination in the industry. Modeling is predicated on a traditional sense of ability: Models have bodies that are considered to be aspirational, and they strut down the runway as though they are giving an ode to able-bodied walking. So what do you do when your job is to have people look at you? Chelsea Werner, a gymnast and model with Down syndrome Jillian Mercado, a model with spastic muscular dystrophy and Mama Cax, a blogger, model, amputee, and disability advocate, all know this experience firsthand. Feeling like people are looking at you or judging you is one of the most fraught experiences when you are a person with a disability. People feel they have the right to either assume that I was in some mysterious car accident (I wasn’t) or to walk up to me and ask questions about my body. ![]() In stores, I sometimes feel like I am at a press conference. The eyes on me are unforgiving some people even going as far as making snide remarks when I pass by. I experience this every time I enter public spaces. But my humanity can sometimes take a back seat to the eyes of strangers who are often either agitated by my mere presence or feel entitled to answers about my disability as if it is my only trait. I am also a writer, journalist, activist, and I travel around the world speaking about disability and representation. I am 26 years old and I have cerebral palsy. I hope you all can find a way to do the same.What It’s Like to Be a Disabled Model in the Fashion Industry I’m going to do my best to pick myself up today and make an effort to find my own version of normal-one that finds positivity outside of the worry and sadness my heart feels for everyone affected by the coronavirus. Amidst the uncertainty though, I’m trying to find moments of happiness in the things I never realized were so important, like taking a walk outside, spending quality time with my family and truly learning to be present. ![]() Tuning in to the news as the world changes by the minute amidst illness, death and fear has been mentally paralyzing, not to mention learning to cope with all the recent changes life has thrown at us all. On Instagram: Hoping this pre-isolation video brings you a small dose of joy and inspiration, because #RealTalk, I could really use some right now… While we’re all doing our best to adjust to the new normal, I’m finding it hard to stay focused and motivated due to major anxiety.
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