Brands are finally taking the necessary steps to show they are inclusive.
In recent years, we have seen fashion companies move away from what used to be their typical model – a skinny white woman – and move towards more diverse models to match their audience. While we have celebrated this, we still see groups of people who are underrepresented, one them being those with disabilities.
Recently, Victoria’s Secret featured their first model with Down syndrome, and now another brand is celebrating a milestone with the launch of their baby collection.
Banana Republic has included a baby boy with Down syndrome in their latest campaign.“The BR Baby collection recently launched by Banana Republic was designed with a promise to be more sustainable, more welcoming, and more inclusive,” the company said in a statement, per FOX 5 NY.
“We want to celebrate diversity in all forms and in the casting for BR Baby we saw a perfect moment to move this forward. We were thrilled to give this beautiful, loving human his first modeling job.”
So cute!
Katie Driscoll, the founder and president of Changing the Face of Beauty, said the organization, which is committed to equal representation of people with disabilities in the media, said she was “thrilled” brands were speaking to the disabled community with their ads.
“So often our community is overlooked when diversity is being considered, fact is the disability community is the largest minority in the world and one in 5 families know or love someone with a disability. Being seen in the world we live in is vital to our future.”
I hope one day this becomes the norm so that when a brand includes someone with a disability it’s not something we have to celebrate, but something we expect.