BACK IN JUNE, Irish academic writer and activist Sinéad Burke was named one of Vogue UK’s 25 most influential women.
Vogue admired Sinéad’s mission, “to educate designers on how to be fully inclusive in fashion and beyond” and highly recommended her TED talk Why Design Should Include Everyone.
A month before Sinéad made it to Vogue’s 25 most influential women of 2018, she was hanging out with Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner at the launch of a magazine which she and Kim were both featured on the cover of.
Today she announced the massive news that she’s a new Contributing Editor at British Vogue.
Very, very proud to be a new Contributing Editor at @BritishVogue.
— Sinéad Burke (@TheSineadBurke) August 1, 2018
Thank you to @Edward_Enninful for his extraordinary leadership and to @GilesHattersley who took a chance on me.
My first piece is about my body and my disability. https://t.co/lDaxipOlx7
Sinéad’s first piece for Vogue is the perfect introduction. She explains that she’s an educator, writer and advocate who happens to be 3’5″ tall when standing. She’s currently working on her PhD and has become heavily involved in the fashion industry over the last year. Sinéad’s using her new platform to help ensure that clothes are designed more thoughtfully and inclusively.
The first column Sinéad has written for Vogue is called ‘Why I Chose to Embrace My Differences’, and it details her desire at an early age to undergo limb lengthening surgery.
I realised that my sole ambition to have the surgery was to appease strangers, to limit their discomfort with my disability and to nudge the dial closer to subscribing to normality. As a child, I wanted to make it easier for people to like me. I didn’t realise it at the time, but I was attempting to make my differences more palatable.
I spoke with my parents and my siblings and we came to the conclusion that if people did not like me because I was disabled, because I was a little person, that was their problem, not mine.
You can read the entire story here.
Sinéad’s Twitter followers have been sharing their messages of congratulations on Twitter all afternoon.
G’wan, Sinéad! Beyond delighted for you. X
— Stephen Moloney (@stphnmlny) August 1, 2018
Amazing news, congratulations! And well done Vogue on an inspired hire. 👏👏
— Taryn De Vere (@TarynDeVere) August 1, 2018
Congratulations Sinéad (and lucky @BritishVogue for having you as a Contributing Editor!)! Great first piece.
— Nat Gallery Ireland (@NGIreland) August 1, 2018
Well this made my day! Sinead you are unstoppable. Love you 😘😘
— Ann O'Dea (@AnnODeaSR) August 1, 2018
You're unstoppable! Comhgairdeas yet again 😁
— The Irish For 🎧📚 (@theirishfor) August 1, 2018
