For National Bullying Prevention Month, Teen Vogue partnered with @instagram to share the stories of amazing #Advocates in the Instagram community who are taking a stand against bullying. In this installment, Sinéad Burke opens up about bullying and widening the lens of what society considers beautiful.
The fashion industry is not known for its inclusivity, whether that's of black people, fat people, transgender people, or any other marginalized group. Thanks to the diligent work of numerous trailblazers, that's slowly starting to change, and we're seeing more diversity on runways and in stores. Sinéad Burke is one of the people working to widen the fashion industry's lens, advocating for little people like herself.
Sinéad — who has Achondroplasia, the most common form of Dwarfism — is an Irish teacher, student, and activist working to make clothing more accessible to disabled people. She's been honored as one of Business of Fashion’s 500, been on the cover of British Vogue, was the first little person to attend the Met Gala, among a dizzying list of other achievements. Despite her success, Sinéad told Teen Vogue that it was in part motivated by a lifetime of having to validate her own existence. In a partnership with Instagram to highlight #Advocates who are taking a stand against bullying, Sinéad opened up about what it's been like to achieve success in an industry and world that's not built with people like her in mind.
"I have lived my entire existence explaining and educating to other people, and validating my right to exist," Sinéad said in her video. "Being the eldest of five and having two sisters very close in age to me, they could fit into clothes and wear styles of shoes that I couldn't. It sounds so ridiculous to say that was a revelation to me. I was always under this assumption that I could do what my sisters could do. Fashion has only ever catered for a very specific lens. My job is to work with them to widen it."
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Sinéad said she's working toward that goal through visibility, and showing people that the definition of beauty is not restrictive.
"Everybody wears clothes. Everybody can name off five fashion brands even if you're not in the industry at all," she said. "Fashion prioritizes beauty, and widening that lens to include people with disabilities — that has power."
While she's achieved a number of accolades, it's been spreading that message and bringing others to the top with her that Sinéad says has made her most proud.
"I've gotten to where I am because I have guessed email addresses, reached out to the people I admire most, and said, 'Hi, my name is Sinéad. Can we have five minutes for a cup of coffee?'" she said. "So many people said yes. Now, to be in a position where I can do that for others, and where people reach out to me…Or, if I'm working an event or going to a school, I get to bring people who look like me who are 15 or 16, and we get to share a stage and talk about both of our lived experiences. I think that's what I'm most proud of."
