Aaron Philip, 17, made headlines at the start of September when she revealed she’d signed to Elite Model Management, becoming the agency’s first black, trans, disabled model.
A Bronx native, who has cerebral palsy, Philip identifies as gender-fluid and uses female pronouns, Philip is committed to inclusivity and challenging preconceptions about beauty standards in modelling. She first gained attention on social media, where she was celebrated for her confidence and positivity, tweeting her desire to get scouted as a model in November last year, and has since appeared in shoots for Paper Magazine and ASOS. Now with the backing of Elite, Philip’s expected to take the fashion world by storm and change the face of the industry as she goes, recently telling The Times ‘I just don’t want this to end with me… I want to have an impact where other people like me are just going to be the industry, and like it’s nothing’.