Some of us come into the world with everything made easy. We don't have to work at getting better at anything as money, garganutan biceps or high cheekbones will carry us to where we were pre-destined to be. A remarkable jounrey safe from the rapid waters of adversity and content in the knowledge that their world is built around them and those fit in to that world as it is.
Some others though are born to fight back, not accept the system as it is and fully believe change is possible. Those others are epitomised by Sinead Burke.
Born 1990 with a condition called achondroplasia, Sinead could have accepted the circumstances, kept her head down and bemoaned the lack of opportunites. Sinead scrumpled that note and threw it into the bin. A number of titles can be given to her but none really do her justice exclusively: Disability Activist, Podcaster, Artist, Fashionista, Author, Teacher, Activist. She is a woman of action, of these descriptions and much more.
After deciding she could no longer sit back and watch from afar the exclusion from fashion discussions due to her size, Sinead became a blogger on her site ‘Minnie Melange’ and highlighted exclusivity in the fashion industry. Sinead began shaking up the accepted norms. She loved fashion as a child but found ‘standard’ didn’t apply to her and it became a frustrating experience. As an aside through her blog, she started her education, made contacts and became known within the industry. As a little person, she now had a voice and she was going to make it heard.
She is not confrontational but certainly not passive. She made her mark on Edward Enninful, the Editor-in-chief of British Vogue by simply walking up to him, pulling on his sleeve, introducing herself and then convincing him why she was the one to make a mark in the fashion industry.
First little person on the cover of Vogue, had her own TED Talk (Why Design should include Everybody), been to the White House, the Met Gala and is an ambassador for the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and has worked with notable celebrities such as Meghan Markle and Kim Kardashian.
She even contacted the Irish Gaeilge dictionary and the term ‘Duine Beag’ (Little person) is attributed to her when she took on the establishment. Sinead has began to change the culture within the fashion industry, not just creating clothes for little people which, while most welcome, would be short term thinking.
To change a culture, you have to lead and Sinead demonstates this by sitting on Gucci’s Global Equality Board, launched a Podcast called ‘As me with Sinead’, worked with Gucci, Ferragamo and Blueberry all to advance both fashion and the acceptance of all people within it. Fashion should be as diverse and imaginative an industry as there can be.
Taking on the Directorship of ‘Tilting the lens’ (Twitter: @TilitingTheLens), a consultancy that aims to raise accessibility standards so that it can be open to all, is hard work. Writing a book ‘Break the Mould – How to take your place in the world’, released in 2020, to help children understand and believe that they are enough and to really believe that - is again hard work. She doesn't step back and accept that. Sinead knows change is needed but is fully prepared to roll up her sleeves and get stuck in.
Sharp mind, hardworking, and never doubted that her goals would not be achieved, SInead fully believes that if you give it, you’ll get it back. It is a wonderful gift to be able to encourage and give belief to children to be simply who they are. The modern world can be a confusing and terrifying place for those who feel lost or at odds with society. Sinead Burke makes admirable change happen. A leader who ripped up the script. A woman for working for Global betterment.
Photo credit: Theo WARGO/Wireimage
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