Remember when we said that the fashion and beauty industry was getting more diverse? Well, Beauty & Pin-Ups have seriously upped in inclusivity game by signing Special Olympics athlete Katie Meade as their spokesmodel. Yay!
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Katie Meade will be the first woman with Down syndrome to be featured as the face of a beauty campaign so you can see why this is a big deal. Katie is best known for being a Special Olympics athlete, competing in a number of sports including basketball and gymnastics. The CEO of Beauty & Pin-Ups Kenny Khan told People “So as we were launching this product, in our mind it could have been the next traditional pin-up – but as soon as we came up with the name ‘Fearless’ it was really easy, we were like ‘Well Katie’s fearless” and indeed she is.
Meade follows in the footsteps of Jamie Brewer, an actress who became the first model with Down syndrome to walk the runway at New York Fashion week and Madeline Stuart who also has Down syndrome and made her fashion week debut a few months later. Beth Sullivan, chair of the International Down Syndrome Coalition told The Mighty that the boundaries were being shattered for people with disabilities; “Katie is the most recent model with Down syndrome to make headlines, these models are putting Down syndrome in the spotlight and showing the world how capable and beautiful they are while simultaneously demonstrating that people with Down syndrome are competent and useful members of society and can add value to businesses and workplaces.” We could not agree more. You can check out the beauty line here.
Holly Martin
holly@brightonjournal.co.uk
feature image: Beauty & Pin-Ups
