There's nothing ordinary about 29-year-old model Kelly Knox. She's timelessly gorgeous, extremely brave, and was the winner of the BBC competition Britain's Missing Top Model. What's most striking about her, however, is the fact that Knox was born without a forearm. Since winning the modeling competition five years ago, Knox has landed some of the most coveted fashion spreads and walked runways around the world. Still, it hasn't been easy for her; according to MailOnline, Knox's disability proved to be a hindrance in her career, but she's determined to change the way the fashion industry thinks when it comes to disabled models.
"Disability is almost invisible in the fashion and beauty industries — it's very frustrating, but I believe in me and the message behind my work and I'm determined to make changes in the industry," Knox told MailOnline.
After coming in first on BBC's modeling show, Knox was signed to Take 2 Models and received a feature in Marie Claire magazine. But shortly after, she was "left in the gutter." It didn't leave Knox discouraged, however, just more determined. This year has been Knox's most successful one to date, thanks to P&G.
"P&G Beauty approached me through one of my agents, Ben at the Ben Barry Agency, almost a year ago. They booked me to walk in their Trends for 2013 fashion show at the P&G Beauty VisionHouse event."
P&G made created a video of Knox accompanying text that read, "the most beautiful woman after Venus."
"I felt so emotional on the catwalk — I couldn't believe P&G Beauty were saying all these amazing things about me. My eyes actually welled up as I was walking down the huge rotating runway," Knox said. She would soon after be booked for an editorial shoot in Marie Claire China's April 2013 issue.
Knox is not just focusing her time and energy to modeling, she is also an ambassador for REACH, a charity for children with upper limb deficiencies.
"We need positive disabled role models. Disability has been accepted in sport and TV but fashion has a long way to go."
