US Vogue hails Irish disability activist

AMERICAN Vogue has paid tribute to Irish disability activist Sinéad Burke as a great ‘fashion advocate’.

The magazine said that while many people called themselves influencers, the 27-year-old was helping ‘to redefine the term’.

In an article headlined, ‘Why fashion needs disability activist Sinéad Burke’, the fashion bible said the diminutive Dubliner had become a vocal representative for the disabled, speaking for a group whose needs ‘have been ignored by fashion’.

It said: ‘At 3ft 5-and-a-half inches tall, Burke is a little person, and though the community includes an estimated 30,000 people in the US and more than 600,000 in the world, it has never had such a visible fashion advocate. In the middle of a whirlwind 2018 that has seen her grace magazine covers shot by Tim Walker, meet with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and collaborate with powerhouse brands like Burberry, Burke has done plenty to push the needle forward – and she’s only getting warmed up.’

Ms Burke told the magazine: ‘Surreal is probably the best word to describe the last year. I have lived my whole existence as somebody who is very physically identifiable and often that brings harassment, but I am [now] coming into the stage where my presence on the internet and visibility within fashion circles is growing.’

Growing up in Ireland, she was drawn to fashion at an early age.

However, she added: ‘There was nobody in my physical real world who understood what I was interested in.’ INSPIRING: Disability activist Sinéad Burke