Irish activist Sinead Burke will grace the cover of British Vogue for their May 2023 issue.
Titled Reframing Fashion: Dynamic, Daring & Disabled, and featuring actress and MS activist Selma Blair and models and disability activists Aaron Rose Philips and Ellie Goldstein, the issue aims to celebrate "disabled talent".
Sharing a snap of the cover to Instagram, Burke posted the caption saying: "Dynamic. Daring. Disabled. From runways to galleries, stadiums to television screens, @BritishVogue's May 2023 covers celebrate a new vanguard of Disabled talent."
Photographed by Adama Jalloh, and styled by Kate Phelan, Sínead wore a white shirt dress with a black belt by Alexander McQueen for the shoot, as well as her own black pumps by Ferragamo.
As a writer, academic and fashionista, with achondroplasia - the most common form of dwarfism - Sinéad has spent much of her career challenging society to rethink design especially when it comes to those living with a disability.
Writing an essay on the topic for the new issue – which she worked on as a consultant editor – Burke underscores why nothing is more fashionable than inclusivity:
"What we created on set felt so important," she says. "But we knew it was a start, not a destination."
Also featured in the special edition is actress Selma Blair, a Hollywood star who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) - a disabling autoimmune disease of the central nervous system - in 2018.
According to journalist Frances Ryan, who herself has generalised muscle weakness and is a wheelchair user, and profiled Blair for the May issue, the actor is now done with staying quiet.
When it came to the Cruel Intentions star's photoshoot, there was no question of whether or not she would be photographed with her cane:
"I have an emotional and physical attachment to the cane," she explains. "I settle in my voice and body as soon as I hold [it]. It's an extension of me. And I know it adds to visibility. So many younger people have started publicly embracing their sticks more. I do think representation matters. If I can help remove stigma or over-curiosity in a crowd for someone else, then that's great."
British Vouge's May edition will be available on newsstands on Tuesday, 25 April.
