Australian model Madeline Stuart, who has Down syndrome, landed an advertising campaign with fashion and lifestyle brand everMaya.
We first met the 18-year-old in May when she and her mom Rosanne set out to change the way people look at those with disabilities, starting with empowering social media images and messaging.
Now she's graduated from posing for Instagram to landing major ad campaigns.
"The experience working with her has had a positive impact on me personally as well as professionally," Damian Graybelle, president of everMaya, told Mashable. "I just never expected that our campaign with Madeline would have had such an affect on people. I have spoken with so many parents of children with special needs that have told me how our partnership with her has given them hope and changed their perspectives on what the future holds for their children."
Besides the campaign, the company also launched a designer handbag line named for the teen, which will be available Aug. 15. EverMaya is donating 5% of sales of every “Madeline” handbag to the National Down Syndrome Society.
“The generous donations that will come as a result of this new handbag line will directly support our mission at NDSS, as we fight for the rights, values and dignity of all individuals with Down syndrome and our families,” Sara Hart Weir, president of NDSS, said in a press release.
This is not the only clothing campaign that Stuart has been a part of. In July, Stuart posed for body-positive fitness brand Manifesta.
"Just as Madeline is committed to expanding people’s ideas of what a model can be, Manifesta is determined to show that the clothing and fashion industry doesn’t have to be exclusionary, that one brand can work for women of various sizes," the company blog states.
Stuart also announced on her Instagram that she will be walking in the Fause Haten New York Fashion Week show this September.
Fuente: mashable.com