How I Move Ellie Goldstein
British model who shot to fame on the cover of Vogue last year talks living with Down’s syndrome, passion for dance and having Nicole Scherzinger in her DMS
Growing up, I always wanted to be a model. When my sister had her friends over I’d spend ages dressing up with them, walking down an imaginary catwalk. I would always talk about my dream of modelling and my mum encouraged me. It was a friend of hers who first spotted Zebedee Talent, the modelling agency which I signed to aged 16. The group works to increase the representation of disabled, visibly different, and trans and non-binary people within fashion and media worlds.
Dance has been in my blood. My mum jokes that I was dancing inside her when she was pregnant; I moved around so much I got stuck sideways so she had to have a caesarean section. I was five when I started going to dance lessons. I loved the feeling of moving my body to anything with a beat. It also made me more confident as a child. I started off doing tap, ballet and jazz, but now I love doing all the fast stuff, like hip-hop and street dance.
I bring loads of energy to my shoots, where my passion for dance unapologetically shines through. Modelling on shoots can be demanding – it’s not uncommon for them to last up to 12 hours – but I always get all the members of the cast and crew up dancing and recording moves on Tik-tok with me because that’s how I want to be remembered for my work.
My career highlight has got to be starring on the front cover of Vogue Italia for a shoot with Gucci. From there, my career snowballed and I’ve featured in campaigns for brands including Laura Mercier, Nike and Vodafone, and most recently, Adidas for its “Impossible is Nothing” campaign. It’s been a whirlwind – even Nicole Scherzinger often shares and comments on my modelling shots with her five million Instagram followers – as does Katie Piper and Kimberly Wyatt.
I was diagnosed with Down’s syndrome at birth, but I’ve never let my condition get in the way of living. At that time, people had a negative perception of Down’s syndrome. One of the doctors in the hospital told my mum that I’d never be able to walk, talk or live an independent life. I was just written off from the start, but my parents got their heads around it and were determined to bring me up like any other child and like my older sister, Amy.
My parents didn’t tell me about my disability until I started secondary school. They sat me down, told me to look in the mirror and said I am “perfect”. That’s the message I want to convey to other young people who might struggle to celebrate their differences. I don’t see other people’s disabilities – I take people for who they are.
It’s incredible to see the fashion and beauty industries becoming more diverse and I hope there will be more Down’s syndrome models in the future. My dream is to be on the cover of British Vogue, but my biggest goal is to be an inspiration to other girls and boys with disabilities. My advice would be to follow your dreams and not give up on them – you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it.