Skokie native Lily Brasch recalls flipping through the pages of People Magazine, admiring the fashion and beauty filling its pages. However, the lack of disabled models made Brasch feel isolated from the magazine’s content.
This changed on Feb. 10 as Brasch, who has a form of muscular dystrophy, modeled on the New York Fashion Week runway for fashion brand Randhawa at the hiTechMODA show.
“Fashion drew my attention growing up. It has a very positive connotation, (young people) see all this attention on the fashion industry,” Brasch said. “Then you see people with disabilities. The connotations are negative, so I’m really fascinated with… trying to eliminate negative connotations through fashion.”
Muscular dystrophy is a condition causing progressive weakness and muscle mass loss, according to Mayo Clinic.
Randhawa, a South Asian fashion brand based in the United States, invited Brasch to promote their products.
Amna Inam, Randhawa’s CEO, said a friend sent her Brasch’s video.
“She’s so beautiful, and she’s an inspiration,” said Inam, who launched her company in 2021.
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“She was looking gorgeous and did a wonderful job. She did well for us.”
Inam said the company used 95 models for its three New York Fashion Week shows with hiTech MODA.
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The company’s website says it tries to create clothing “celebrating traditional South Asian values while also embracing the modern world.”
Brasch said since she’s grown older, creating representation for the next generation of people with muscular dystrophy has transformed into her passion.
“All these people being celebrated and recognized in the media don’t have a condition like mine, but I used to consume it and I think to myself, ‘why (am I) feeling this way,'” she said. “Now, as an adult, I no longer need that recognition.”
“As a young kid, I needed to be recognized. I did need to get that push telling them they’re still beautiful, worthy and recognized. That’s what I want to be for the next child with a disability.”
Brasch said it was peaceful growing up in her suburban Skokie hometown where she could enjoy the relatively quiet streets compared to New York City, where she studies psychology at Columbia University. However, she said it got lonely being one of her neighborhood’s few living with a physical disability.
“Growing up in a small community, I was probably one of the only ones with a visible physical disability, so (it) wasn’t talked about. It wasn’t shown. I completely felt alone,” she said. “Maybe around the Chicago area, there were (such) people but in my specific surroundings, there was nearly no one.”
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She said Skokie residents can strengthen efforts at a local level by embracing their disabled neighbors and by increasing representation at local businesses and organizations. Brasch said she’d like to see displays at Westfield Old Orchard Shopping Center, for example.
“When I would go to Old Orchard, I’d see all the poster boards,” she said. “Occasionally (there would be) someone with a physical disability, but there should be models who are not as visibly disabled with an explanation of why they’re modeling and what they stand for.”
Brasch created a nonprofit called Born to Prove, which focuses on breaking boundaries and empowering those with physical limitations. Born to Prove has two documentaries in the works.