Shannon Murray had a dream of being a model. When she broke her neck at age 14, that did not stop her, according to Jerome Taylor’s story in The Independent on Feb. 25. She now uses a wheelchair to get around, and she and her chair have won a place in the modeling industry in a new campaign at Debenhams.
High Street, London’s fashion district, has kept its models thin and young and without any visible disabilities until now. But thanks to the fighting spirit of many disabled models and the belief in her own dream, Shannon is now shown in the display windows of this one store willing to take an adventurous leap. The store not only features the wheelchair-bound model but also has plus-size and petite models in its display windows, striving to show more real-world images.
There are currently several disabled performers on TV in the U.K., but fashion modeling was off limits, and the unbroken wall stood firm until this Debenhams campaign. The men who took such care to keep Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s image wheelchair-free when he was president 70 years ago would be amazed at the open view of disabilities today.
Japanese car company Toyota has displayed a Prius designed especially for handicapped people so they can now be every bit as green as the rest of society.
The VisABLE Model Agency—the agency involved in the Debenhams project—says on its Web site that it is the U.K.’s first agency with the sole objective of supplying professional models, actors, and presenters with disabilities to the television, film, and advertising industries. The agency works to have models placed in ads and on TV as other people are, just part of everyday life.
Louise Dyson is the founder of the agency, which she started after making her Louise Dyson Agency a success and providing models for Sunrise, a company that makes mobility equipment. The BBC, British Airways, Ford UK, and Marks & Spencer are listed as being among VisABLE’s clients.
High Street, London’s fashion district, has kept its models thin and young and without any visible disabilities until now. But thanks to the fighting spirit of many disabled models and the belief in her own dream, Shannon is now shown in the display windows of this one store willing to take an adventurous leap. The store not only features the wheelchair-bound model but also has plus-size and petite models in its display windows, striving to show more real-world images.
There are currently several disabled performers on TV in the U.K., but fashion modeling was off limits, and the unbroken wall stood firm until this Debenhams campaign. The men who took such care to keep Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s image wheelchair-free when he was president 70 years ago would be amazed at the open view of disabilities today.
Japanese car company Toyota has displayed a Prius designed especially for handicapped people so they can now be every bit as green as the rest of society.
The VisABLE Model Agency—the agency involved in the Debenhams project—says on its Web site that it is the U.K.’s first agency with the sole objective of supplying professional models, actors, and presenters with disabilities to the television, film, and advertising industries. The agency works to have models placed in ads and on TV as other people are, just part of everyday life.
Louise Dyson is the founder of the agency, which she started after making her Louise Dyson Agency a success and providing models for Sunrise, a company that makes mobility equipment. The BBC, British Airways, Ford UK, and Marks & Spencer are listed as being among VisABLE’s clients.
