Madeline Stuart: The Model Who Is Slowly Changing The Industry
Madeline Stuart, a model from Brisbane, Australia, is the first professional supermodel with Down syndrome. And slowly, she is starting to break down the walls of “beauty standards” in the modeling industry.
Roseanne Stuart, Madeline’s mother, did not know her daughter had Down syndrome until a doctor pulled her aside and said that her future was uncertain. When Madeline was only eight weeks old, she had to undergo open heart surgery to fix a big hole in her heart. It was then that her mother decided that she would give Madeline every opportunity she could to be successful in this life.
It wasn’t until Roseanne took Madeline to her first fashion show in 2015 that she showed an interest in being a model. The seventeen-year-old girl had turned to her mother and said, “Mum, me model.” Since then, she’s worked hard to lose weight and become fit in order to chase her dreams.
Now, the twenty-two-year-old is in high demand for fashion shows and fashion designers around the world. She even has a clothing line called 21 Reasons Why, in reference to her having 21 chromosomes. Madeline also had planned to be part of New York Fashion Week until unfortunately, she had to opt out due to recovery from another heart surgery she had in December. Still, the model has scheduled her next modeling appearance for International Down Syndrome Day in Jakarta, Indonesia.
