Influencer with Down syndrome breaks barriers as ‘Glamour’ cover model: ‘I hope that we will become standard’
Enya, a social media influencer with Down syndrome, is Glamour's newest cover star, and no, she is not dreaming.
In her Instagram Stories, the 26-year-old behind the beauty-and-style account Downsyndrome_Queen, shared footage of herself seeing the cover for the first time, plus behind-the-scenes shots from the Glamour shoot. "I had the most amazing day," she captioned a pic.
"I must be dreaming!! I cannot describe in words how much this means to me," read a statement posted to Enya's Instagram account, which is managed by her younger sister Céline. "My first cover, but also the first major cover in the Netherlands with someone with Down's syndrome on it." Last year, British model Ellie Goldstein appeared on the brand's U.K. cover.
Enya added, "Let this not be a one-off fun thing for other companies, but rather a doorway that leads to many possibilities for other brands [and] magazines. I hope that we will become standard in the fashion & beauty industry. I see change, we are only at the beginning but we are heading to the right direction. We all can make the change, we all have to contribute."
A representative from Glamour's parent company Conde Nast did not immediately reply to Yahoo Life's request for comment. But the brand said on Instagram that the latest issue is a "dose of feel good."
In February, Enya told Elle how she started her Instagram page — now with more than 68K followers — on the advice of Céline, a big social media fan who could not find influencers with intellectual disabilities. So she encouraged her sister to start her own channel with makeup tutorials and style inspiration.
The purpose of the page, Enya once told British Vogue, is breaking stereotypes. "I try to make people understand me for who I am and that there is no need to think in boxes," she told the outlet. "I want to show them that I have a nice life, that I can do (almost) everything and that I have a future with dreams.”
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