For years now, something in the fashion industry is changing. Gradually, as if they were isolated events, it is increasingly common to see inclusive models on catwalks, advertising posters or television spots. Although hegemonic bodies and the ideal of beauty of the Greek gods still dominate the scene, the appearance of minorities is becoming increasingly stronger.
The message is simple, brands are becoming aware that their products are aimed at the entire universe of the population and not just the chosen ones. Years ago, a brand that broke the mold was Tommy Hilfiger, which took a bold leap and presented a campaign designed for people with disabilities, with exclusive designs, functional for all types of bodies: loose seams, special zippers and unprecedented adjustments. Sales skyrocketed.
Heterogeneous beauty. This paradigm shift is not a purely business issue, it is also social. And although the 90-60-90 culture still governs in the main fashion forums such as Paris, New York, Milan and Tokyo, more and more inclusive women are starring in some collections. Icon of this change is the Canadian model Winnie Harlow, who suffers from vitiligo (a disease that depigments the skin) and in recent years has become a reference for fashion diversity. Another model that makes her particularity an example for brands is Aimee MullinsAmerican athlete, model and actress, who is missing her legs because she was born with a disease called fibular hemimelia that forced them to be amputated at one year old.
In Argentina this phenomenon is also gaining ground. There are already several modeling agencies on the market that promote inclusion and try to reconfigure the parameters of beauty. May what generates impossibility become an attribute of improvement and the characteristics that once caused ridicule and suffering become praise and distinctive seals. The ineffable designer Karl Lagerfeld said it: “It is not necessary for a model to be pretty, but rather to have something that makes her interesting and attractive to look at.”
Based in Buenos Aires and Córdoba, the agency We are Diversity It has more than 60 models who have a disability. Consulted by NOTICIAS, its director Magdalena Venturexplains: “I was a model between the ages of 15 and 25 and I didn’t like what I experienced at all. It all seemed very superficial, frivolous and self-demanding to me. Since I am very thin, they asked me not to eat before the parades. Fashion and art can be more inclusive, not what I experienced. That’s why I created my own agency where there is room for all kinds of people.”
Ventura left the demanding world of catwalks to study psychomotor skills and neurorehabilitation and early stimulation. He carried out social work in humble neighborhoods and little by little built what would become his agency, which took shape during the pandemic, with virtual art and diversity courses. “Many women with disabilities signed up who wanted to delve into modeling and who had never imagined being models. It all started from a therapeutic framework until I decided to go to a casting with a model in a wheelchair. The experience was very strange, but the designer chose her and she ended up walking.”
Common cause. In Ventura’s own words, his agency’s values are four: the expression of beauty, empathy, creativity and love. He goes deeper: “We all have something to give, we are all beautiful, but you have to know how to communicate it. People associate fashion with something frivolous but fashion is identity, communication, and we carry it out every day of our lives, unconsciously or consciously.” The Diversity staff is made up of models with all possible characteristics. “I started with people with motor disabilities or wheelchair users, but recently many people with developmental delay, cognitive delay and Down Syndrome signed up. But there are also autistic people, blind people and children with amputated hands or legs. Perhaps the most complex thing is a person with autism because they require special care, because on the outside everything seems normal but you have to be attentive to everything.”
Although the fashion labor market is very small and competitive, the open-mindedness of brands and designers is happening little by little. It is true that there is also a law that requires large companies to have a minimum of 4 percent of their employees with disabilities, but it is not enforced. On this point Ventura adds: “There is a job opportunity but the market is not entirely empathetic with this profile of people. It also happens that many designers consult me because they don’t know how to deal with them and they don’t handle the legal issue either. There is a lot of ignorance on the subject. What they ask me most is what they call it. It is called ‘person with disabilities’ or ‘person with functional diversity’. It does not say ‘differently abled’ or ‘disabled’. You always have to put the ‘person’ at the front.”
Regarding the self-esteem that is put into play in each casting, Ventura concludes: “The most important thing is to emphasize tolerance for frustration and self-confidence. Knowing that they have to answer to any designer but without losing their uniqueness because they are not hangers, they are people who make their difficulty an example of self-improvement. And if that doesn’t make them models, then what?
