The Tamesis
Aariana Rose Philip is an Antiguan-American model and musician who suffers from quadriplegic cerebral palsy. She is a regular at the Collina Strada fashion show in New York and has appeared in British Vogue magazine. In this year’s exhibition at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philippe modeled for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and was one of the models in the exhibition. She also appears in fashion magazine May issue In preparation for the event, styling was designed by Louise Linderoth. Philippe is the first wheelchair user to attend the Met Gala; here, she tells Fashion About a whirlwind experience.
This whole thing is so crazy to me. Even if you’re not in the fashion world, the Met Gala is a huge event in its own right. It permeates pop culture. So it’s your mom, your grandma, your brothers and sisters – even if they don’t watch the runway that we watch, they know it.
However, for a long time, people with disabilities were not represented anywhere. The thought of even being able to show up at an event like this…no one even goes there. Between then and now, I somehow found myself there – I can’t tell you how lucky and privileged I felt to be a part of this event.
Photo: Ryan Petrus
I think for a long time it was easy to see people with disabilities in the public eye and label them activists because we had no choice but Speak for ourselves in the spaces we inhabit because others are not familiar with our bodies or how to fit in with us. Therefore, we are given the title of activist because we are challenging the social system. I think people realize that if you have a disability in major public spaces, you have no choice but to do so because we have historically been marginalized and pushed to the side. Unfortunately, with the fascist turn in global society, we are seeing a return to ableism and eugenics, as well as harmful rhetoric towards people with disabilities.
However, it is equally important that we show people with disabilities as part of the fashion industry, as models, talents, photographers, rather than purely activists and advocates. It shows that there is more diversity in the experiences and aspirations of people with disabilities than challenging major social causes. At the end of the day, many of us are just people who are passionate about something and want to contribute.
my reaction Fashion There has been so much support for the debut and I love how they told the story of the exhibition through our models and how we were represented through different perspectives [stylist] Amanda Halleck chose. I do feel like high art.
