The lingerie empire Victoria’s Secret debuted a new collection for women with disabilities, emphasizing that beauty and sexiness transcend able-bodied boundaries.
In a press release, Victoria’s Secret said that “people with disabilities (PWDs) are one of the most underrepresented and underserved minority groups in the world.”
” As a global brand and workforce, VS&Co has a responsibility to connect with, listen to and empower people with disabilities, caregivers and their allies to drive meaningful change within the global fashion industry,” it said.
According to the New York Post, Victoria’s Secret “said it developed the collection in partnership with GAMUT Management, a talent agency exclusively representing people with disabilities, and nonprofit organization Runaway of Dreams, which works to make the fashion industry more inclusive.”
Mindy Scheier, CEO of GAMUT Management, praised Victoria’s Secret for going on a journey to understand women with disabilities.
“We’ve been lucky enough to work with Victoria’s Secret and PINK for the past year, as it was really important for the team at Victoria’s Secret to understand who this woman was and why she needed this product,” said Scheier. “They went on a journey of listening, learning, and then developing beautiful, functional products based on direct consumer feedback. Women with disabilities have to be involved in every step of the value chain, and Victoria’s Secret and PINK have done this authentically.”
As Breitbart News reported, representation for women with disabilities has been on the uptick in recent years, such as when Mattel introduced its first-ever Down syndrome Barbie as part of its fashionista collection, which also includes dolls with “hearing aids, one with a prosthetic leg, as well as a Ken doll with the skin condition Vitiligo.”
“The Fashionista line began including dolls featuring disabilities in 2019 when the company introduced several Barbies in wheelchairs,” noted the report. “The line began including dolls with several skin tones, hairstyles, and even heights, to represent a more diverse line of body types and the like. The line initially included eight body types, 35 skin tones, and 94 hairstyles.”
Rosa became paralyzed from the waist down at the age of 25 due to a car accident.
“I didn’t know what my life was going to be and I didn’t know if I would ever be able to do anything independently, again,” she told Yahoo Life.
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.