Disabled trans model Aaron Philip wants to see more representation and diversity in fashion
Gender-nonconforming model Aaron Philip hopes for a world where people of all genders, races, ethnicities, and body types can see themselves represented in fashion.
‘For me, I just keep it pushing cause I know who I am,’ Philip says in a video for NowThis.
Backstory
Philip is a 17-year-old originally from the Caribbean island of Antigua. As a baby, Philip was diagnosed with quadriplegic cerebral palsy. They moved to the United States with their family at age three.
Back in November 2017, Philip had a Tweet of them in their wheelchair go viral. Since getting discovered on the internet, Philip has gone on to do photoshoots for Paper Magazine and popular online retailer ASOS.
honestly when i get scouted/discovered by a modeling agency it’s OVER for y’all! by y’all i mean the WORLD! it’s real inclusivity/diversity hours folks, get into it! pic.twitter.com/58VOSafAm6
— aaron (@aaronphilipxo) November 24, 2017
Representation matters
‘I think it’s time to really include marginalized folks within fashion in big ways,’ Philip says. ‘That’s why I’m working so hard to become a model so that—in my wheelchair, being trans, black, disabled, feminine—I can walk runways, like Gucci and Prada and Dior… all the big runways.’
‘I want to get signed to a modeling agency so I can take on runway, and editorial, and beauty campaigns,’ they say. ‘Because there’s such little representation for disabled bodies, people with disabilities, and black trans women and femmes, and nonbinary people in general.’
‘And somehow, I’m at the intersection of all of that.’
Learn more about Aaron Philip in the video below:
