MAKING HER MARK

Madeline Stuart, as the world’s first professional model with Down syndrome, is putting diversity front and centre on the catwalk and inspiring others to achieve their goals, too.

Madeline Stuart, as the world’s first professional adult model with Down syndrome, is putting diversity front and centre on the catwalk and inspiring others to achieve their goals, too. By Jane Albert. Styled by Nicole Bonython-Hines. Photographed by Duncan Killick.

Rosanne Stuart loves nothing more than a girls’ day out with her daughter Madeline, but as one particular outing began in mid-2015 she realised she may not have chosen wisely. The pair had planned to see a fashion parade in their home city of Brisbane, and as they took their seats beside the catwalk Stuart took one look at Madeline’s face and knew she had a new dream.

Only a few weeks earlier they’d gone to watch a Rabbitohs match. Sitting in the stands proudly wearing her Rabbitohs jersey, Madeline became agitated. A keen football player herself, the then-19-year-old couldn’t understand why she wasn’t allowed on the field to compete. It was no different that fateful August morning. As the models began striding down the catwalk, Madeline turned to her mother and stated: ‘Mum, me model.’

Madeline isn’t like other people. When she sees something she wants, she goes after it. She has a healthy sense of self-belief and is intimidated by no-one. She also happens to have Down syndrome, but neither Stuart nor Madeline has ever seen that as an impediment.

Like many people with Down syndrome, Madeline struggled with her weight, but aside from that Stuart saw no reason why Madeline shouldn’t try modelling. She encouraged her daughter to pursue a healthy diet and daily gym sessions, pointing out: “If you want to be a professional be a professional, don’t just expect something because you look different’ and rewarded Madeline’s successful efforts with professional hair and make-up, followed by a photo shoot.

Stuart was stunned with the results. With the support of her peers in the close-knit Down syndrome community, she created a public figure page on Facebook and posted a before and after shot. Within days the photo had been viewed nearly seven million times, resulting in stories being published in newspapers around the world from Iceland to Mexico, Cuba and the US. Within the month she had been invited to walk at New York fashion week, resulting in Madeline Stuart being one of the first adult models with Down syndrome to walk in a fashion show. Indeed she is the first professional adult model with Down syndrome full-stop. In 2017, the influential Forbes magazine named Madeline number one for Diversity in the Fashion Industry, for ‘normalising Down syndrome’. Dozens more runways have followed: Paris, London, Runway Dubai and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week China, among many others. The only person who wasn’t surprised to have smashed through this largely impenetrable diversity boundary was Madeline herself.

“Madeline has been raised every day being told she’s beautiful and capable. She wouldn’t know what it’s like not to believe in herself,” Stuart explains, adding her daughter recently addressed 1,500 people, including Eva Longoria and Jamie Foxx, after receiving the Quincy Jones

“We have to stop thinking that if we use someone who’s a bit different in advertising it’s a negative thing … we have the opportunity to change how we think”

Exceptional Advocacy Award in Denver. Despite dancing with Foxx for much of the after party, it was the cameraman who really impressed her, as he did the best dab. “She doesn’t get starstruck. Her role models are people who are loving and kind.”

If only the doctor who delivered her could see Madeline now. Stuart was 26 when she gave birth to her daughter in Queensland. Before she could even see the newborn the doctor had whisked her away to another room. Staff explained her daughter had Down syndrome, but there were options she could consider. A former model turned carpenter and building surveyor, Stuart’s response was: “What’s Down syndrome?” The doctor told her to leave the baby at the hospital and start over; pointing out the child would never amount to anything and would only mature to the mental age of a seven year old. Stuart took the advice and did start over, but not in the way he imagined. She shut the door to the rest of the world and cried for three days; then gathered herself together, separated from Madeline’s father and never looked back.

Sitting in Vogue’s photographic studio being tended to by hair and make-up artists ahead of her shoot, Madeline appears every inch the seasoned professional. And so she should: this year she will walk in New York, London, Paris and Istanbul, where a designer is creating a collection specifically to showcase Madeline; and she will attend various functions in Albania for World Down Syndrome Day on March 21.

But it isn’t only fashion. In her 21 young years Madeline has represented her state in cricket and basketball at the Special Olympics, where she met her boyfriend of four years, Robbie Streeting; in addition to performing with InsideOutside, the Queensland-based dance school Stuart founded in 2015 that caters largely for people with disabilities. Then there are the countless charities Madeline supports, from the Endeavour Foundation Australia to Step Up for Downs in America; a documentary from Swedish company B-Reel Productions being released this year and the fashion label Madeline launched at New York fashion week last February, 21 Reasons Why, with a third line being released later this year. “The thing with this industry is you have to keep evolving,” Stuart says wearily.

One of the oldest-known disorders in the world, Down syndrome is also one of the most under-researched. It occurs when babies are born with an extra chromosome 21, with varying intellectual and physical disabilities as a result, ranging from heart defects to impaired vision and respiratory issues. There are around 15,000 people in Australia living with Down syndrome and seven million globally.

Not only does Stuart believe her daughter is the first adult model with Down syndrome to work on the fashion circuit, last year she secured her first sponsorship for Madeline, with Worldhotels. “She is the queen of disability in America, because she’s helped change it for everyone. Any organisation you talk to, they’ll tell you Madeline is the one who opened the door,” Stuart says.

As Madeline’s manager and mother, Stuart is justifiably proud of the sponsorship. She is also unimpressed that the fashion and beauty industries have not been forthcoming.

There is no doubt the fashion industry is finally becoming more diverse, from representing all ethnicities to booking transgender models and occasionally venturing beyond the traditional height and weight restrictions. But when it comes to embracing models with a disability progress is moving at a glacial pace; and those who have made it fear tokenism.

The Business of Fashion recently noted that 15 per cent of people globally – 1.2 billion – have a physical or mental disability, yet you can count on one hand the number of models who hail from this group. In his 2014 collection Diesel artistic director Nicola Formichetti cast Jillian Mercado, a model with spastic muscular dystrophy who uses a wheelchair, as one of the models in his We Are Connected campaign. He was broadly applauded for such a bold, inclusive move, and Mercado was later signed to IMG Models, going on to model Beyoncé’s apparel line with ads for Target and Nordstrom following soon after. That same year Danielle Sheypuk became the first model in a wheelchair to appear at New York Fashion Week; and in 2015 – the year of Madeline’s debut – British model Jack Eyers was the first male amputee to walk, also at New York fashion week.

They are all steps in the right direction, provided the companies and labels working with these models have their best interests at heart rather than a one-off ‘token’ job, which can be a thinly-veiled grab for publicity.

“In the beginning, when Madeline went viral, she got two contracts, but people honestly believe they’re doing her a favour because she has a disability,” says Stuart, pointing out that smaller designers who don’t have a lot of money can invite her to walk for them in order to get their own name out – after all, Madeline has almost one million followers on social media.

A glance through her Instagram feed depicts a life of beauty and glamour, and to an extent that’s true. It is also exhausting and Stuart says she’s never cried as much as she has in the past two years. While Madeline is continually acknowledged as an international gamechanger, the one who is encouraging people to be viewed for what they

can do rather than what they can’t, there is still a long, long way to go. Television and advertising companies show great initial interest in Madeline, only to turn away when they realise she has limited speech, unlike American Horror Story actor Jamie Brewer, who has Down syndrome but speaks fluently. Stuart has tried, and failed, to have Madeline signed to an agency, meaning her pay isn’t always commensurate with that of other professional models.

“We have to stop thinking that if we use someone who’s a bit different in advertising it’s a negative thing. As a society we have the opportunity to change how we think,” Stuart says, adding that an easy solution to overcome Madeline’s speech limitations is to use a voiceover. “One in seven people has a disability. They’re not going to go away.”

The distress Stuart feels softens when she considers the global impact Madeline has had. In addition to the huge number of responses Madeline’s social media posts constantly attract, Stuart receives regular emails from people thanking her, often opening up about their own stories.

“I’ve had people come up to me and say: ‘I’m 30 days drug-free; if Madeline can do it I can.’ Just the other day there was a message from a woman who had given birth to a boy with Down syndrome and says she looks at Madeline’s Facebook page every day, because it gives her hope. That’s why we do it. As a society we’ve become so obsessed with fast cars and big houses we’ve lost all connection with humanity. And people like Madeline put the colour into the world.” ■