Image Credit: Changing the Face of Beauty
The end of August is just around the corner and with that are changes. The leaves are starting to look a little less green. Nightfall seems to be coming just a little earlier. Mornings have the slightest bit of chill. Schedules are changing as kids go back to school as well, but it’s not just the expected things that are making shifts. How we look at advertising and back to school is changing, too.
Image Credit: Gap/Vogue
The Gap has a new collaboration with ED, the lifestyle line by Ellen DeGeneres. The line, called GapKidsxED, focuses less on traditional gender stereotypes and more on encouraging girls to simply be who they are. More than that, though, the line encourages girls to take pride in who they are. GapKidsxED has six girls as the spokeswomen and models for the line. The girls, who have their own non-traditional hobbies and talents, challenge the notion of what beauty and style look like.
It’s a powerful message, one that meshes flawlessly with that of Changing the Face of Beauty. Changing the Face of Beauty is a nonprofit corporation committed to equal representation of people with disabilities in advertising and media worldwide. It comes as no surprise, then, that the management of the Gap store on Lincoln in Miami, Florida has teamed up with Changing the Face of Beauty for a fashion show celebrating the launch of the GapKidsxED line.
The show, taking place on Saturday, August 22nd, will feature 14 girls with a range of abilities to embody the be yourself and be proud spirit of the line. For Changing the Face of Beauty, the show is a huge opportunity to further their mission and influence advertising with diversity of ability.
“We will take this event and show Gap what is possible. We will prove to them and Ellen just how easy it is to make sure that everyone is included in their brand messaging,” Driscoll says. “We know they will be influenced.”
Image Credit: Livie & Luca
The Gap fashion show isn’t the only way Changing the Face of Beauty is influencing companies and advertising this fall. Another collaboration is also changing how we look at back to school. California-based shoe brand Livie & Luca has debuted the #ImGoingBackToSchoolToo campaign ads with 4-year-old Cora Slocum as the star. Slocum, who has Down syndrome, is featured with other models who have disabilities, helping to diversify the back to school images.
“Back to school is such a critical time for kids, and its important to Changing the Face of Beauty that companies see the 13% of kids that happen to be going back to school with a disability,” Driscoll says.
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For more information on Changing the Face of Beauty, visit their official website. Keep up with Founder and President, Katie Driscoll on Twitter and Facebook. For more information on the latest back-to-school campaigns, visit GapKidsxED and #ImGoingBackToSchoolToo.
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