What advice would you give to any model who considers themselves to have a disability wanting to break into the
world of fashion &
modeling ?
Oooh - that’s a tricky one. Okay. I’d probably start off with saying the same as what I said before about hard work and persistence.
But I’d also warn them that they’re going to need to be patient and resilient because there will most likely be times where they will miss out
on a job or casting because of their disability. It’s absolutely unfair, but how the industry is at the moment - it’s probably going to happen
to them. I would also say that it’s pretty imperative that they become comfortable with talking about their disability with the photographers
and crew etc. I think it’s very important for a model to be part of the creative process in a shoot. To offer up new ideas, poses etc. So I’d
probably say: “You need to try to not let yourself miss out on those opportunities to contribute to the shoot, just because you’re nervous
or shy about your disability.
You’re there to represent, so own it