Little star is making a big impression
Irish disability advocate Sinead Burke has met Jacinda Ardern and made the cover of Vogue but she still has big goals, writes Siobhan Downes.
Sinead Burke has no problem talking to famous people. She once found herself sitting next to the editor-of-chief of British Vogue, Edward Enninful, at a fashion show, and tugged on his sleeve to get his attention so she could introduce herself.
She employed a similar tactic when she bumped into Jacinda Ardern in a corridor while in Davos for the World Economic Forum earlier this year.
For Burke, that brand of confidence is a necessity in her everyday life.
The Irish writer, teacher, disability advocate, and fashionista was born with achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism.
Standing at 1.04 metres (3 feet 5 inches) tall, she often relies on the help of others.
‘‘I have spent so much of my life approaching strangers and asking for help in public spaces with things such as the lock on a bathroom door. So much is out of my reach.
‘‘So the actual, practical experience of approaching strangers and admitting my vulnerability, and ridding myself of any shame or embarrassment that comes with that has been wonderful practice for accosting the people that I admire most.’’
Her chance encounter with Ardern, whom she says falls into the above category, clearly made an impression. On a flying visit to Wellington this week, as a guest of the Irish Embassy, she enjoyed a one-on-one meeting with Ardern to discuss what New Zealand is doing to develop policies in accessibility.
This isn’t the first time Ardern and Burke’s names have appeared side-by-side in a publication. The two were among the cover stars on British Vogue’s September issue, handpicked by guest editor Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex.
Burke made history as the first little person to appear on the cover of the fashion magazine.
During her interview with Stuff, Burke is wearing a custom-made Gucci dress and shoes by the Italian designer Salvatore Ferragamo. She had a passion for fashion from a young age, asking for September issues of Vogue for her birthday every year. But she can pinpoint the moment when she realised she was excluded from the industry.
‘‘I remember going shopping with my sister, who’s two years younger than me. She’s not a little person, she’s average height. It became really obvious very quickly that she had access to clothes that I didn’t. I couldn’t understand why – it felt so unfair.’’
Burke decided to start learning about every aspect of the fashion world, poring over the pages of The New York Times, The Financial Times, WWD, Business of Fashion, anything she could get her hands on to learn about the people and the processes within the industry.
‘‘I knew that fashion had the potential and the power to shape culture and the world. That if fashion stepped forward and made inclusivity and accessibility a primary focus, many other industries and people would follow, because it’s something that we all look to and are guided by.’’
Fastforward to that bold introduction with the editor of British Vogue, and Burke managed to score herself an invitation to Vogue House in London to speak about her advocacy in the domains of design and disability (a Ted Talk she gave on the subject in March 2017 was viewed more than a million times).
The next thing she knew she was being asked to be a contributing editor of British Vogue, and then of course came that September issue, an ‘‘incredibly surreal’’ experience that has brought with it huge responsibility, she says.
‘‘There is greater visibility and a greater awareness of who I am and the work that I do, which is wonderful. But even more so now it is essential to not become complacent. With more people observing the work, the more important it is that it continues, and it continues at a more accelerated rate.
‘‘I grew up wanting to see myself reflected in lots of different spaces. I wanted to go to the cinema and see a film where a character who looks like me is the protagonist. I wanted to open a book and read about someone who looked like me. I wanted a doll, I wanted a magazine.
‘‘Now to be in a position where people from all over the world are sending me photographs of their children who have dwarfism holding the magazine with me in it – that’s so incredible.
‘‘But now it’s about when does the second little person get to be on the cover of Vogue? When does the third? Is it going to take us this amount of time again? I hope not.’’