The Evolution of the Fashion Model

From Jamie Brewer to Jack Eyers, this has got to be the most significant and exciting cultural shift the Fashion World has ever seen. I mean, think about it, we are witnessing the evolution of the Fashion model right before our eyes! 

Designer Carrie Hammer has just set the bar a little higher.  As a former advertising Sales Executive she's obviously learned a thing or two about the business. So when she started her own Business chic clothing line, she was going to do things differently. Not only did she get Gorgeous Women to model her Stylish Professional Designs a.k.a. Boss Babe Chic. But these Women are more than Gorgeous, they are Industry Leaders, Chief Executives, they are Powerhouses; they squash the status quo under the heels of their Louis Vuittons. 





In a world where the ones that walk the runway are glorified for their physical attributes and nothing more, we have created this Vanity obsessed generation that aspire to be pigeonholed into that group of what we in the Fashion Industry have outlined as "The Look". We have gone from visualizing models as truth be told, interactive mannequins, displaying a Designers garment, and put them on pedestals, showering them with Celebrity status. It's not just a job, a career, but models have now become influencers, meaning someone of influence. These models and supermodels have become icons and little girls want to grow up to be just like them. And it is because of this that we must step back and take a look at what we have created of the Fashion Industry and must make necessary adjustments in light of this.

Images subject to copyright and belong to Carrie Hammer and her website

I like to think that all people are great at one thing more than others and we all have something to contribute to the world. For example, one woman could have a stronger sex appeal more so than others, but she also has something other than her sex appeal to contribute to the world, something musical, artistic, or perhaps even, intellectual (yes, sexy bombshells can be smart).  This comes from my belief that women are multifaceted but we have been unjustly put into little labeled boxes. 


I think this could change the way we view those garments on the runway. Instead of admiring it and trying to envision ourselves as the model while thinking, "I could never wear that because I could never look like that". Imagine instead, the person admiring the garment and learning what the wearer (the model) has achieved, done for others, and succeeded at. That would translate into a feeling of empowerment, which makes women feel beautiful, and that would make that garment even more desirable. And I truly believe it would make for more sales. Think about it, when Michelle Obama wears something people go crazy mentioning who she wore because of who she is. The same goes for Oprah. We our thirsting for Role models on the Runway and Carrie Hammer was genius enough to recognize this.

Images subject to copyright and belong to Carrie Hammer and her website

    

But this is not a first for Carrie Hammer, last Fall 2014 Carrie also invited a transgendered woman, a race car driver, a veteran, and government workers to model her clothing at her Fall 2014 Show. She has combined giving us women not just what we want (Stylish Fashions) with something we inherently need (Role models, someone to look up to, something to aspire to). 

   Carrie Hammer (front and center in green) and the "real models" featured in her February 2015 runway show.               - Tanya Malott

We as a people love diversity. I can just imagine the applause that rang out when Donyale Luna became the first black supermodel nearly 50 years ago. And everyone took notice when Kinee Diouf became the first black model on the cover of Vogue Netherlands. Just recently we have seen a wave of fuller figured women make an appearance in the Fashion world. In 2014 Candice Huffine became the first plus-size model to be included in the annual Pirelli calendar. 

Last year at Carrie Hammer's Fall 2014 show, she was not afraid to show physically diverse models. The Shining Beauty of the night at the Fall 2014 show was Karen Crespo. Karen became a quadruple amputee after she lost all four limbs to a bacterial meningitis infection two years ago and she was struggling to come to terms with her new body. Carrie's previous show inspired Karen to see herself through new eyes and rediscover her own Beauty. 

This is is how you make a memorable show. By bringing a sense of humanity, and forcing the viewer to clear the cobwebs and past assumptions of what it means to be Beautiful. It centers the show around not just the garment, but also the wearer and it helps the prospective buyer to connect on another level with that garment. 

Carrie Hammer and Karen Crespo at Hammer's Fall 2014 show. Karen wore "The Karen"in red                   Hiokit Lao

So...What does Carrie have to say about her models stealing the show? 

“My models definitely way outshine my clothes — I don't mind! Beauty lies in our differences. There isn't one slim ideal beauty, but that’s what fashion has become all about, my line is all about highlighting the beauty in the differences, and making sure that the women feel confident and beautiful in their individualities.”

                   Designer-Carrie Hammer

So cue the fanfare and make way for this year's Breakout Super Model, 

Actress Jamie Brewer!  

Jamie Brewer strikes a pose                                                                                         - Brian Ach / Getty Images

Jamie Brewer is shattering the stereotypes surrounding  people whom are born with down syndrome. What society once labeled, dumb, stupid, retarded, ugly...Jamie is stomping on it with her smarts, intellect, talent, activism and Beauty. She is not just a woman with down syndrome...she is a leader. At 19 Jamie was the youngest person with this condition to be elected President of the ARC of Fort Bend Chapter. She was also elected to the Executive board as Treasurer and asked to serve on the ARC Governmental Affairs Committee for the State of Texas. While on the comittee she managed to persuade them to pass the law for Texas to abolish using the word "retarded" from the state legislation. Because of Jamie Brewer, Texas now uses the term "Intellectual Developmental Disability" in their legislation.

“Take the risk. Take the chance. Put your heart and soul into it, because when you put your soul into it, you will become what you’ve always dreamed, you, yourself, will become a legend.”

-Jamie Brewer

But Carrie Hammer is not the only one making waves in the Fashion World! 

Designer Antonio Urzi has also jumped on the model cliche' shattering bandwagon. The FTL Moda Loving You is a show that was held in collaboration with Fondazione Vertical. Fondazione Vertical literally means Vertical  Foundation and they are an Italian foundation supporting research to find a cure for spinal cord injuries. 

Rex/REX USA

Also involved was an agency that campaigns for a greater diversity in the modeling, media and catwalk industry, London based "Models of Diversity" which have been featured in i.d.e.a.l. magazine. The founder of models of diversity is a former model herself named Angel Sinclair. After witnessing the great variety of models participating on Gok's Miss naked Beauty in 2008 she set out to change the narrow range we see in our own fashion industry and decided to promote using models that reflect the diversity in our society in all areas such as race, shape, age and ability.

One of the models in the show happens to work as a spokesperson for models of diversity and is none other than Jack Eyers. Jack was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, a condition that affected the growth of his right leg and caused so much discomfort that he decided to have it amputated at the age of 16. 

Jack is a physical trainer and has been steadily building his client base for a couple of years now and aspires to own his own gym and cater to those that are differently abled. He has also won the title of Man of the Year for Men's Health magazine.

“To be the first male amputee model on a New York Fashion Week runway feels amazing - it feels like such a big deal. I just want to show that having a disability doesn't need to hold you back. I want people to see me and to realize that there needs to be more disabled models walking down the runway. My dream though, is to be featured not as some one-off sob story, but because people see me as a good model.”

-Jack Eyers

Watch the Models of Diversity Documentary! 

"For the record...

According to Webster's New World Thesaurus: Print Issue, 1982

"Disabled,a. crippled, helpless, useless, wrecked, stalled, maimed, wounded, mangled, lame, mutilated,           run-down, worn-out, weakened, impotent, castrated, paralyzed, handicapped, senile, decrepit, *laid up, *done up, *done for, *done in, *cracked up, *counted out; see also hurt, useless, weak. Ant. healthy, strong, capable."

I came across  this discovery of what the Webster's New World Thesaurus from 1982 had printed in relation to the word Disabled, thanks to a TED Talk by Aimee Mullins (a double amputee) in the "Opportunity of Adversity" episode. She displayed this and read each one aloud before recalling how her voice broke the first time she read this. Especially the Antonyms.....to suggest that a person who has a disability is automatically discounted from ever being Healthy.....Strong.....or.....Capable of.... anything, hell, that would make my voice break too. 

It's really amazing to see how as a society (including the medical field) our understanding of what it means to be disabled, and what a person with a disability is capable of is changing. We have now come to the realization that there is no bigger disability than that of a crushed spirit. 

This is the first step to changing the conversation. Instead of it being a conversation about overcoming deficiency, it will change to one of augmentation and potential. A wheelchair or prosthetic limb doesn't have to represent loss anymore. It can represent that the wearer can create of that space whatever they desire. So that people whom we have come to consider disabled will be transformed into differently-abled and even super-abled and they can become architects of their own identities by designing their own bodies from a place of empowerment. This is possible, by combining  cutting-edge technology, robotics and bionics we can make Poetry and Art together.

I think this is what awaits us in the Fashion world. Can you imagine these beauties coming down the runway with various flickering lights flashing from the wheels of their wheelchairs, I want to see medical accessories made of other interesting materials such as polyurethane (bowling ball material) but it looks like glass with cool functioning l.e.d.'s inside, or other multifunctioning gadgets. I could definitely see Antonio Urzi or even Gareth Pugh's designs meshing well with something like this! I want to see more models like Jack, male and female. I want to see more designers follow in Alexander McQueen's footsteps and create beautiful prosthetic legs for these models specifically for their show for the sole purpose of being Creative, Artistic, Whimsical, Interesting, Different, to Wow us. Not because of the model they used, but because what the model inspired them to create.

I loved Antonio's show because as you can probably tell from my Pinterest site, i'm very into the Avant Garde look, I love futuristic, steampunk type of designs, but I still have a soft spot for soft and feminine designs as well so for me it was a pleasure to watch. 

But this is just the beginning, I cannot wait to see what is to come! Come on designers, show us just how far your vision can expand and propel us into a new level of design and creativity. The world is waiting. 

Don't forget to Subscribe to my Blog!  And comment below, I want to know what you think about this, does this apply to you on any level? Are there any creative ideas relating to this rummaging in your head? Are you suddenly inspired to be a model? I would love to hear about it!

XOXO -Eva