Nerds Republic

Last year, 18-year-old Madeline Stuart of Brisbane, Australia, made waves by becoming the first major fashion model with Down syndrome. She was quick to let the world know that she wasn’t willing to give up on her dreams.

This year, she’s still going strong. She’s been signed with several fashion and cosmetics brands, has walked the catwalk at New York Fashion Week, is having a doll modeled after her, and has even launched her own line of handbags.

Here we have Stuart walking down the catwalk at New York Fashion Week.

Instagram / carriehammer

She’s been breaking down barriers since her photos went viral last year.

Watch Stuart take a spin on the catwalk in one seriously beautiful outfit:

MyCityLife’s @conanvisser had the privilege of seeing special needs model @madelinesmodelling_ make her @nyfw runway debut at the @ftlmoda show alongside @adrianalima. #nyfw #newyorkfashionweek #madelinestuart #icaniwillaustralia #fashion #fashionweek #modelling #mycitylife

A video posted by MyCityLife (@mycitymylife) on Sep 13, 2015 at 7:31pm PDT

Rosanne Stuart, the brave girl’s mother, accompanied her daughter to New York. They were both extremely excited for the opportunity.

“I think it’s amazing that she’s been given this opportunity,” Rosanne told ABC. “It’s a fantastic platform for us to get our beliefs across on inclusion and disability.” The runway show also featured model Rebekah Marine, who uses a prosthetic arm.

Marine proudly refers to herself as the “bionic model.”

Instagram / rebekahmarine

Marine and Stuart weren’t the only unique models, either.

Instagram / carriehammer

The show featured many women with disabilities, and celebrated the diversity and strength of human bodies.

The FLT Moda show, which featured Marine and Stuart, was organized with the help of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and Models of Diversity, which is an organization that works to bring more authentic representations into the fashion world.

Here’s Stuart in an edgy outfit and some equally experimental makeup.

Instagram / hendrikvermeulencouture

(via The Mighty, ABC)

It seems that the rigid and unforgiving world of fashion might finally be giving up on its false, unattainable idea of beauty. We’re also seeing an awesome shift in how we perceive disability. A more inclusive fashion world could make a huge difference for people everywhere.

You can follow Rebekah Marine on Instagram to keep up with her fashion adventures, and you can also follow Madeline Stuart on Instagram and Twitter to see what she’s up to these days.

Few things can be more traumatic than losing a limb in combat. Unfortunately, that’s the reality for many men and women in the armed forces. When arriving at home, they not only have to deal with the emotional and psychological tolls of combat, but they must adjust to their new limitations. As a result, many suffer from depression and PTSD.

Yet some wounded veterans are taking a stand to show that, even with amputations, they can still be strong and proud of their bodies and their service. Photographer Michael Stokes worked with a handful of veterans and produced a book full of pin-up calendar-style portraits, but with a twist: all of the models are combat veterans who have experienced amputations.

It all started back in 2012, when Stokes worked with a veteran who lost a leg to a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

Michael Stokes

Instead of a somber photo session, though, the veteran decided to pose in a confident, powerful way. Soon, others were inspired.

Stokes decided that instead of going the expected route and focusing on the injuries, thus making the lives of the veterans into tragedies, he would work with them to show who they were beyond their injuries.

Michael Stokes

The project came to be named Always Loyal, and is currently still in the works as more and more veterans offer to be photographed. The brave men and women want show the world that though they’ve been profoundly altered by their experiences, they’re still full of life and ready to meet the challenges ahead, whatever they may be.

Michael Stokes

Michael Stokes

In an interview with MTV, Stokes made it clear that he’s not doing anything but relaying the veterans’ messages of confidence and unconditional self-love. “Some people will say to me ‘Oh, this is really helpful to their self-esteem,’ or, ‘You’re making them feel like men again,’ [but] these guys have come to me very healed and ready to take the world on. I’m not giving them back their confidence. They already have it.”

Some even opted to pose with weapons, making the statement that although they might be missing some limbs, they’re still quite tough.

Michael Stokes

Michael Stokes

Some brought in a sense of humor, too.

Michael Stokes

(via BoredPanda, MTV)

You can see more of Stokes’ photography on his website and Facebook (though be warned that some images may be NSFW). If you’d like to see more sexy vets, you can donate to Always Loyal‘s Kickstarter campaign and get your own copy.

Humans have a pretty weird view of beauty, but there are many types of beauty out there:

Sarah Ivermee, the mind behind U.K.-based company Lugs, knows that for some children, accepting who they are can be hard. Ivermee’s four-year-old son, Freddie, is deaf in one ear and has only partial hearing in the other due to congenital CMV, a virus that affects infants, and in Freddie’s case, it damaged his hearing. Because of this, he wears hearing devices, but he wasn’t always happy to have them.

Hearing aids and cochlear implants are visible, and sometimes kids feel self-conscious about wearing them.

Lugs

Ivermee’s friend expressed concern over the fact that her daughter, who wore hearing aids like Freddie, never wanted to wear them because they made her feel different from the other kids at school. Plus, many hearing devices are made from plain, beige plastic — a design that’s not so appealing to a young child. Ivermee suggested that her friend decorate her daughter’s hearing aids to make them feel more like a cool accessory.

And thus, Lugs was born. The company provides kits for kids and their parents to decorate and personalize their hearing devices.

Lugs

There are kits for cochlear implants…

Lugs

Lugs

Lugs

…and hearing aids.

Lugs

Each kit comes with stickers and PVC charms so that kids can personalize their devices to show off their interests.

Lugs

Many of the kits feature popular characters from movies, video games, and TV shows, along with staple favorites like Hello Kitty and Winnie the Pooh.

Lugs

Kids can decorate their devices any way they like, so not only do they end up looking cool, but they become an expression of each child.

Lugs

The stickers and charms add flair, but they’re also lightweight and don’t interfere with the devices’ functioning.

Lugs

For Ivermee, the company is also a personal matter; she wants Freddie to be proud of who he is and not feel ashamed.

Lugs

And if she can extend that to other children in the same situation, it’s even better. “Knowing children are not just happy to wear their hearing aids and cochlears, but that they are proud to show them off makes it all worthwhile,” she says. She even says that Freddie’s younger brother, Charlie, wants his own set of Lugs, even though he’s not deaf at all!

Lugs

To see everything that Lugs has to offer or to get a kit of your own, check out their website. New kits and collections are added regularly, so there will always be something to keep up with trends and fit everyone’s interests.

See what other people are doing with the science of hearing, and how they are making their helping devices their own: