Amputee model Bernadette Hagans lands visibility campaign

Fashion designer Kurt Geiger is well on his way to highlight underrepresented models in the fashion world, with model Bernadette Hagans, a cancer survivor, and amputee, being made the face of his new campaign, reported The Independent.

The People Empowered campaign is set to feature 15 activists and organisation leaders in total and Hagans is the first one, appearing on Geiger’s Instagram this week to share her inspirational story. The 24-year-old was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma and had to have her leg amputated in 2018 to save her life.

Talking to Geiger on Instagram, Hagans shared that she feels lucky to have survived aggressive cancer. “I got to experience life with two legs and now I get to experience it with one,” she said. “Yes, I got cancer but I was being given a chance to live. Some people just get told they’re terminal. I just kept trying to remember how lucky I am and I think that’s what got me through it,” she added.

In the campaign itself, Hagans can be seen in a black hoodie, rocking neon quilted bag, and platform trainers. The young model also expressed her happiness over the fact that the label chose angles that show off her prosthetic leg clearly. “I loved the photoshoot because we were modelling the product whilst also showing my leg as a part of it. We were showing that this can be fashionable and I love that."

Hagans is a Belfast, Ireland, native, and currently signed with Zebedee Management, a specialist talent agency representing individuals with disabilities and alternative appearances.

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