The prestigious fashion brand Gucci is becoming more and more inclusive. They relaunched in 2019 with a new look and feel and their makeup line took off fast.
Several months after, the company started looking for a inclusive model and fell in love with Ellie Goldstein.
Together with Vogue Italia, they were on a scouting mission.
Their goal was to push the beauty standard goals and present all types of beautiful faces and show them as one, explained their photographer David PD Hyde.
Who’s Ellie Goldstein & How She Became a Gucci Model?
As part of the Unconventional Beauty series by Gucci Beauty, Gucci was on a quest to support emerging talents and to encourage non-stereotypical and unconventional beauty.
Ellie Goldstein, at the age of 18, became one of the first models with Down syndrome to be featured with this beauty brand.
She shared photos of behind-the-scenes of the photo shoot and wrote that this was the best day ever and she felt lucky and honoured to be a part of their mascara campaign.
The project launched on Instagram and the goal was to choose 2 photographers to shot a digital editorial for Gucci Beauty and Vogue Italia.
For the creative director of Gucci, Alessandro Michele and Gucci Beauty, authenticity, freedom, and inclusiveness have always been their vocabulary.
Their initiatives have been focus on diversity and self expression since the beginning.
According to founder and president of Changing the Face of Beauty, a non-profit advocating for the inclusion of the disabled community in advertising, Katie Driscoll, this is a big step in the proper direction.
For Driscoll, seeing a brand like Gucci valuing their consumers with differences through their advertisement motivates other brands to recognize beauty within all their customers.
Unfortunately, disabled individuals deal with high risk of unemployment and according to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, the rate of unemployment for them has been twice as high than of those without any disabilities.
Inclusivity Matters in all Spheres of Life
For Driscoll, the move of Gucci and other important brands in featuring people with disabilities in the media, will naturally progress with more jobs for them.
Brands are able to change the future of the disability community by appreciating them more, explains Driscoll.
Namely, in 2018, the lingerie brand Aerie, caught people’s attention when they revealed their #AerieREAL campaign which featured Chelsea Werner, a world champion gymnast and US Special Olympics champion with Down.
However, despite the efforts of several brands in terms of inclusivity, more work has to be done, believes Driscoll.
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