Models with non-standard appearance who conquered the world catwalks

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Millions of girls around the world dream of becoming models and therefore strive to meet the standards necessary to be noticed and taken off at least for the cover of a more or less well-known glossy publication. But the notorious 90-60-90, feet from the ears, tall stature and doll-like appearance are now not at all a ticket to the world of the fashion industry. On the contrary, eminent fashion houses are now betting on uniqueness, and therefore girls with an extraordinary appearance are conquering the world. The stories of these models are a vivid confirmation of this.

Winnie Harlow (25 years old)

Since the age of 4, the Canadian model has been suffering from the rare disease vitiligo. With this ailment, the pigmentation of the skin is disturbed, and some of its areas are simply discolored. Considering that Vinnie is dark-skinned, the consequences of the disease on her are especially noticeable.

This was the reason that peers mocked Harlow, invented nicknames, of which "zebra" is far from the most offensive. As a teenager, Winnie even thought about taking her own life, and after graduation she decided to hide from people, getting a job in a call center.

Everything changed after the girl was invited to take part in the show "America's Next Top Model." And, despite the fact that Harlow won only 6th place in it, she was noticed and began to be invited to the shooting. Today Vinnie, along with supermodel Adriana Lima, is the face of the Desigual clothing brand.

Melanie Gaidos (30 years old)

The American woman has also been the object of ridicule from her peers since childhood. The fact is that from birth Melanie suffers from ectodermal dysplasia, a rare genetic disease that greatly affected her appearance: the girl has no body hair, and there are only three milk teeth. In addition, Gaidos has no eyebrows and eyelashes, and she sees poorly.

But Melanie admits that she never worried about her unusualness and always emphasized that the main thing is how you perceive yourself. Before popularity came to her, the girl already had a good job and a loved one. It was he who convinced the chosen one to send an application for participation in the video of the Rammstein group. After that, the leading fashion houses drew attention to the unusual girl and began to invite her to the shooting.

Moffy Modelo

Englishwoman Moffy Modelo proudly bears the title of the first top model with a squint. Moreover, she began to be invited to shoot in fashion magazines at the age of 14, but the girl gave her consent only after she became an adult. Her photographs in the Pop edition became a sensation: the whole world immediately started talking about an unusual girl, and supporters of the "correct" beauty began to argue about the advisability of inviting models with external defects to the fashion industry.

Nevertheless, Moffy's career went up: today she is one of the most sought-after models in the world and breaks stereotypes about beauty imposed by society.

Daphne Self (91)

Briton Daphne Self is the oldest model in the world. Moreover, she tried to start a career as a fashion model at the age of 21 and even won a competition among girls for the cover of a magazine. But, having married and having given birth to three children, she decided to devote herself entirely to the family.

When Daphne was 70, her husband died. And the woman decided to return to the modeling business again. Moreover, every young girl probably dreams of such a start: Self was invited to appear for Vogue. Since then, the British woman has had no end to well-known brands who want her to become the face of their products. The fact that Daphne is in demand is also indicated by the fact that in one working day she receives at least 2 thousand dollars.

Gillian Mercado (32)

As a child, American Gillian Mercado was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, and from the age of 12 she moves in a wheelchair. Naturally, she did not even think about a modeling career. But everything changed after the girl was noticed by the producer of Lady Gaga Nicola Formichetti: he invited Gillian to appear for an advertisement for Diesel.

Soon, the president of the IMG Models modeling agency Ivan Bart drew attention to Mercado and signed a contract with her. Since then, the unusual girl has often appeared on the covers and pages of the world's most famous glossy magazines.

Madeleine Stewart (23 years old)

Australian Madeleine Stewart is the first professional model with Down syndrome. For the first time, the media drew attention to an unusual girl after she told her life story. The girl said that she always dreamed of becoming a model, but the predisposition to be overweight became an obstacle to achieving the goal. Then Madeleine went in for sports, started going to dances and threw off 20 kg.

Stewart's story spread quickly on the Internet, and soon the Australian woman received her first offers from fashion houses. She is now the face of everMaya and Manifesta. But, according to the model, she needs popularity not only for self-realization. She is thus trying to change the attitude of people towards those who suffer from Down syndrome. After all, in fact, she is the same person as the rest. Therefore, the attitude towards her should not be biased.

Lara and Mara Bavar (13 years old)

Lara and Mara were supposed to be born dark-skinned, but nature decided to reward them with an unusual feature: girls have albinism. Due to the lack of melanin in the body of the twins, their skin, eyelashes and hair are marbled.

Unsurprisingly, those around them shied away from the girls, thinking they might get infected. However, three years ago, Lara and Mara were invited to appear in the project Flores Raras ("Rare Flowers"), after which the sports brand Nike drew attention to the sisters.

Kanya Sesser (28 years old)

Fate struck Kanye Sesser a blow from the first minutes of her life: the girl was born without legs. Apparently, this is why the mother left the newborn baby on the steps of a Buddhist temple. However, she was lucky and was adopted.

Despite the birth defect, Sesser always wanted to become a model and from the age of 15 she began to attend all kinds of auditions, but everywhere she was refused. But the girl did not give up, and one day her efforts were crowned with success: one of the brands of women's underwear invited Kanye to advertise his products. After that, the sports firm Billabong drew attention to the charming girl.

But Sesser is not only building a successful modeling career, but also engaged in extreme sports, showing good success in skateboarding and surfing.

Harnaam Kaur (29 years old)

The name Harnaam Kaur is entered in the Guinness Book of Records for a reason: the British woman is the youngest female with the longest beard (about 15 cm). But despite her excessive hairiness, the girl managed to become one of the most famous representatives of the fashion industry, and it all started when Harnaam was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome at the age of 11. Because of this, the girl began intensive hair growth throughout her body. At first, she was very complex and tried to get rid of excess vegetation. But all was in vain, and Kaur even tried to commit suicide.

At the age of 16, the girl began to profess Sikhism (one of the branches of Buddhism), which calls for accepting people as they are, and forbids getting rid of body hair. The community not only supported the like-minded woman, but also made her case public. Then the world community drew attention to Kaur, and representatives of the fashion industry paid for her education at a model school. Soon, Harnaam was already on the runway during London Fashion Week. Today, the British woman with a beard is the face of the Illamasqua Cosmetics brand.

Hoodia Diop (23 years old)

Senegalese model Hoodia Diop is not for nothing called "ebony girl" and "melanin goddess": her skin color is not just dark, but coal-black. But, despite the fact that in her homeland most of the inhabitants are representatives of the Negroid race, those around her often mocked the girl because of her dissimilarity to others.

But Hoodia tried not to pay attention to bullying and at the age of 15 she went to conquer Paris. To Diop's surprise, several fashion brands immediately expressed a desire to cooperate with her. But the girl chose first to graduate from school and only after that she starred in her first commercial. Now Hoodia lives in New York, collaborates with famous fashion brands, goes to college, where she learns the basics of business.

Kateen Sticks (32)

American Kateen Sticks was born with a rare genetic disease - the so-called cat's eye syndrome. The presence of an extra chromosome leads to the fact that people suffering from this ailment have a vertical pupil.

Due to her dissimilarity from the rest, the girl avoided people from childhood and preferred to spend time in the forest drawing. It would seem that nothing unusual will happen in Katein's life, but one day the photographer Nick Knight came across her Instagram profile. The man could not pass by the unusual appearance of the girl and invited her to the shooting. Soon the whole world learned about Sticks …

In continuation of the story about the fate of the conquerors of the catwalk about how the fates of Russian top models of the 1990s developed abroad.