A British mother has shared a heartfelt post on Facebook chastising brands for not embracing appearance diversity and using more disabled children on catwalks, after determining her son, who has Down Syndrome, has been “rejected by the fashion industry.”
Anita Killick’s six-year-old son, Louis, adores dressing up and posing for the cameras and even walked the catwalk for disability campaigners Models of Diversity, but Anita is disheartened that more brands and fashion houses don’t use models with disabilities reports Daily Mail
In her emotional message posted to her son’s Facebook page Anita says “Down Syndrome is only a fraction of who he is.
“’All children have dreams that one day may come true but if our children are not given the chance then this can’t happen.”
image:Facebook
Speaking about the Facebook post Anita said:
“My son may have Down’s syndrome but he still wears clothes, so why can’t he be a model?”
“People always say that he’s different but it’s not true, he’s exactly the same as everyone else and shouldn’t be treated any differently to other kids.
“Louis loves dressing up and always puts on silly little outfits so I can take pictures of him – most of the time he’s in his own little world.
“Children at his school have bullied him in the past and I want to show him that modelling can really help him build his confidence as he grows older so he knows how to deal with people who tease him.”
Anita approached countless modelling agencies with mostly negative responses, but one promise of a phone call that never eventuated.
“Some comments were people would look at the model and not the fashion, or we can only use what our clients choose, yes maybe but if you don’t have models with disabilities on your books how can they choose.”
She finished by by saying :
“We would love Louis to have a chance to show the world that it is possible to represent in fashion even if you have a disability.”
We wish you the very best of luck with your dream, Louis.
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