A 19-year-old from Perth, Australia doesn’t let cerebral palsy stop her from being physically active. Her dedication has landed her a new gig on Target’s new campaign, modeling active clothing.
Metro UK reports that Robyn Lambird is not only a competitive wheelchair racer, but also a fashion lover and a cerebral palsy advocate. She was diagnosed with the disorder as a 9 year old, and although she can walk with crutches, when her symptoms become to painful, she relies her on wheelchair. She plans to enter London’s World Championship wheelchair race next year.
She became the new face for Target’s spring campaign catalog in Australia after the Starting with Julius helped her land the gig. Lambird is an ambassador for Starting with Julius, an organization that helps people with disabilities land media and advertising gigs.
Founded in 2013, the organization has already made a powerful impact in helping people with disabilities find creative outlets while bringing awareness to others. It uses both social media, as well as traditional media, to help people such as Lambird reach her goals, all the while giving them a way to connect to others with disabilities and spread awareness.
The Target campaign is one of the several “Face the Beauty” campaigns that wants to “Changing the Face of Beauty one model at a time.” Other campaign partners include Nordstrom, Land O’ Frost, Nora Fleming, Live & Lucia, Dreamers, and A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts.
According to Lambird,
“I hope through campaigns like this that it becomes standard to include disabled people in all forms of media. One in 5 people will experience disability in their lifetime, so we really need to make sure advertising is representative of this. It’s not about seeing past a disability; it’s about accepting people who have them.”
While growing up in England, Lambird didn’t know anyone else with cerebral palsy, part of the reason she started her own blog, My Trex Life, where she creates regular posts of living as a teenager with cerebral palsy and shares numerous photos and videos of her journey. She also blogs for Starting with Julius, where she wrote that her disability shaped her into the person she is today. She named her blog “Trex” because she claims her disorder “makes her walk like a T-rex dinosaur. She writes,
“I do believe that my disability has played a large part in shaping the person that I am today and I consider it an important part of my identity. However, I do not believe it should be used by the media as a vehicle to drive a narrative filled with pity or inspiration….What I do wish to see, is people with disabilities being used in the same way that any other model, actor or TV personality is used. I want to see people with disabilities being used to sell the latest range of clothing, and I want to see them on our screens as doctors, superheroes, and crime fighters.”
When she’s not busy with advertising gigs and blogging, she takes part in training for London’s London’s World Championship wheelchair race, that starts next year. She’s taking every training session “as they come.” In other spare time, the multi-talented Lambird enjoys street art, wheelchair rugby, and eating great food!
