The fashion world is continuously changing, and this year proves to be a change in the right direction. The stereotypical image of what a supermodel is “supposed” to look like is re-calibrating as models of all different shapes & sizes, even those with what some would consider a disability appear on the runway.
Nine-year-old Daisy May Demetre made history this past September as the first-ever double amputee to walk in New York’s Fashion Week. As a young girl, Daisy and her father were watching television when an ad for a disabled modeling agency came across the screen.
“Do you want to be a supermodel?” her father asked.
Daisy responded, “Yes!”
“You’re going to be the world’s most inspirational double amputee!” He encouraged.
Initially, Daisy modeled in commercial ads until she was discovered by designer, Eni Hegedus-Buiron. In an interview with CBS This Morning, Buiron stated,
“I want people to see that beauty is not one-sided. It’s a multifaceted thing.”
Buiron not only caught the vision but began to advocate on behalf of those who would have not have been considered “model material” by industry standards. Daisy May along with Madeline Stuart, the first professional model to walk the runway with Downs syndrome, were escalated to brand ambassadors for Buiron’s clothing line, Lulu et Gigi.
Breaking molds, shifting culture and altering industry standards requires risk- someone has to be willing to overcome fear and step out of the box. Like the fourth-grader from Florida who risked mockery when he showed up to school in his homemade University of Tennessee shirt (you can read more in the previous blog), these two girls shattered a mold when they courageously stepped onto a runway unashamed of what others would think of their “disabilities”. The opening statement on Madeline’s website reads,
“Madeline Stuart is a worldwide phenomenon. She is a powerful advocate for inclusiveness and diversity in modeling.”
What was once an area in which someone advocated on their behalf has now become an area in which both Daisy and Madeline are advocating on behalf of others.
Our weaknesses can either remain just that, weakness, or we can take a risk by inviting God into the very things that we consider weak and watch as He turns them into tried and true strength.
Paul writes to the church of Corinth that in the midst of trying circumstances God encouraged him with these words,
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Paul continues,
“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
(2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
Jesus not only shattered molds when He walked the earth, but because he risked on our behalf, ultimately dying a painful death and rising again victoriously, the very thing that we write off as weakness can become the very thing that alters industries, shifts cultures, and changes lives.