Transgender model Aariana Rose Philip is reportedly the first user of a wheelchair to attend the Met Gala in its 78-year history.
Philip — an Antiguan-American model and musician who has quadriplegic cerebral palsy — also became the first-ever black, transgender, and physically disabled model to be signed by a major agency in 2018, according to a report by PinkNews.
The trans model has also appeared in several major high-fashion photoshoots and campaigns, including Moschino’s spring/summer 2022 fashion show. Philip’s appearance also made him the first model to use a wheelchair in a show for a major luxury fashion brand.
Philip reportedly made his Met Gala debut in attire made by designer Louise Linderoth, who is also disabled and a wheelchair user.
“For so long, disabled people were not represented anywhere,” Philip told Vogue on Monday. “The thought of even being able to exist at an event like this… nobody even went there. To go from that to now, somehow finding myself there — I can’t say how blessed and honored I feel attending.”
The trans model continued:
I think that for a long time, it’s been easy to see a disabled person in the public eye and label them an activist because we have no other choice but to speak up for ourselves in the spaces that we inhabit, because other people are not familiar with our bodies or how to accommodate us.
We’re given the title of activist because we are challenging a social system. I think that people realize that there’s no choice but to do that if you have a disability in a major public space, because we have been so historically marginalized and pushed aside.
Philip then lamented over a so-called “fascist shift” in society.
“Unfortunately, with the fascist shift in our global society, we are seeing people return to ableism and eugenics and harmful rhetoric toward disabled people,” he said.
“However, it’s also so important that we’re showing disabled people as a part of the fashion industry — as models, as talent, as photographers versus purely just activists and advocates,” Philip added.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.