LIFE

Madeline Stuart is an 18-year-old model from Brisbane, Austrailia. She's walked the runway at New York Fashion Week, fronted ad campaigns, been on the cover of a magazine and even had a bag named after her. The inspiring part of all that? Madeline has Down syndrome.

Madeline has been dubbed by the press as "the world's most famous and only professional adult model with Down syndrome". She's breaking barriers left and right, and recently appeared on the cover of Hat Trick Magazine. She's also the first model with a disability to become the face of Glossigirl. "Madeline's mission is all about depth and heart and helping others," her mother Roseanne Stuart stated for Hat Trick.

This month, Madeline is traveling to South Africa to help create opportunities for children with disabilities who face an extremely negative stigma and are often shunned there. She hopes to make a difference by raising awareness and showing the world that Down syndrome is something to be celebrated, not shamed. 

Madeline is proof of the changing nature for people with disabilities in the entertainment industry. People are becoming more accepting towards disabilites, and our world is becoming a better place because of it.

You can follow Madeline as she spreads her message across the world at madelinestuartmodel.com. 

Photo credit: Madeline Stuart

by Deanna Schwartz | 8/16/2016