Stef Reid – A great speech – Ablism in Fashion lecture at London College of Fashion with @ModsOfDiversity #StefReid pic.twitter.com/sST7grkJCv
— James Alexander Lyon (@JamesALyon) March 11, 2014
This month, another lecture in the Better Lives series saw leading figures in fashion and ablism campaigning come together to discuss the inequalities of fashion imagery.
Leading model, Kelly Knox, who was born without her left forearm, now works to break down the negativity towards disability, and challenge perceptions on beauty. As winner of Britan’s Missing Next Top Model in 2008, Kelly featured in Marie Clare and has since been on fashion week runways and will feature in the next Debenhams campaign. Kelly spoke about the challenges she has faced as a model:
“I am disabled by the attitudes in the fashion industry, not by my missing arm.”
Joining Kelly was Paralympic athlete and model, Stef Reid, who won a silver medal at London 2012, and is working with Models of Diversity. Stef is also working with LCF alumna Sophie de Oliveira Barata, founder of The Alternative Limb project. She spoke about her vision for the industry:
“At its heart, fashion should be about forward thinking and new forms of expression.”