The runway is inaccessible: why fashion should include more models with disabilities
Chloe Sherrill-Howell / V Mag at UVA
The fashion industry prioritizes a world of conventional physical perfection. Flicking through the pages of any fashion magazine, looking at a clothing advertisement on a billboard down the road or watching a random runway show online will reveal that almost none of the models wear medical equipment. More precisely, only 0.02% of fashion and beauty campaigns include disabled models. How is this near absence possible when, according to the World Health Organization, 15% of the global population have disabilities?
The lack of representation sends a clear message: the fashion industry is not interested in giving individuals with disabilities the platform they deserve. Model and wheelchair-user Emily Barker spoke out about how runway fashion is not fitted to mobility devices, describing how it comes off as “unflattering.” This lack of consideration makes models’ medical equipment stand out, causing a vicious cycle where fashion designers see disabilities as a distraction rather than an asset to enhance the authenticity and distinctiveness of the fashion industry.
Furthermore, the United Nations has highlighted how portrayals of people with disabilities tend to lie on an extreme dichotomy, either showing them as an object of pity or a superhero. Allowing more models with medical conditions would provide a neutral ground for representation, which, in turn, humanizes them beyond one-dimensional figures.
In a digital post about disability and the media, the United Nations argues that “by increasing the awareness and understanding of disability issues and the diversity of persons with disabilities” the media actively contributes to successful “integration of persons with disabilities in all aspects of societal life.”
The scarcity of disabilities in visual representation perpetuates their marginalization, which reduces people’s identities to their conditions. This absence suggests that disabilities are seen as anomalies, drawing negative attention. The more the fashion industry displays medical devices and visible disabilities, the more those conditions will be normalized.
Even though fashion advertising has featured disabilities from time to time, the rarity of these portrayals make it akin to tokenism. There are scarce examples of famous models with disabilities. Namely, Ellie Goldstein, a model with down syndrome, served as the face for a successful Gucci Beauty campaign in 2020. Another example is 2014 Deisel campaign star Jillian Mercado, who has spastic muscular dystrophy. Lila Moss also walked a runway in her insulin pump once in 2021, but never did it again. More recently, in 2023, Haleigh Rose modeled for SKIMS in her wheelchair. While Goldstein, Mercado, Moss and Rose’s inclusion marks a step toward progress in the fashion industry, the overall representation of disabilities remains minimal.
Putting more disabled models in the spotlight also deconstructs the pedestal of beauty that elevates white, able-bodied and skinny models, which reinforces exclusionary ideals. The inclusion of visibly disabled models would inclusively redefine beauty standards and demolish other harmful power structures such as the patriarchy and white supremacy that repress other body types. This sentiment aligns with Kimberly Crenshaw’s concept of “intersectionality”, which asserts multiple forms of prejudice are experienced simultaneously and are interconnected. Diversity, including disability diversity, is the key to making fashion applicable to the general population.
Placing images of people with visible disabilities on the front cover of fashion magazines subverts the notion that fashion is restricted to privileged communities. It humanizes models and creates greater representation where consumer bodies feel seen. While the fashion industry alone cannot reshape how individuals view themselves, embracing beauty in all its forms — including disabilities — is a meaningful change to work toward an inclusive culture.