Akris is honored to have model and activist Teddy Quinlivan as the face of the Spring/Summer 2020 collection. The American model started her career at 17 when she signed to her first agency. After high school, the Boston native moved to Paris where her career took off and she garnered notoriety as she graced the pages of editorials and walked runways all over the world.
Teddy made headlines in 2017 when she came out as transgender just before New York Fashion Week. As she touched on in her inspiring TED Talk, she stood up for herself and her integrity at a time when she had no assurance that doing so wouldn’t destroy her career, damage her relationships, and derail her life.
Since that powerful moment, as one of the first openly transgender models to work for a number of high fashion brands, she has used her platform to shine a light on transgender issues and rights and lobby for more inclusion within the fashion industry. As an advocate for the LGBTQ community, she has become a voice for those who don’t always have one.
Teddy is a brave example of an Akris woman who shows what it means to remove the stigma from your story and live a life with purpose. She went on to share a few inspiring words about what being a woman with purpose means to her.
Akris has just announced that as a woman with purpose, they are pleased to have you as the face of their Spring/Summer 2020 campaign, Congratulations! What does being a woman with purpose mean to you?
Being a woman with purpose to me can mean anything really. A high school teacher, an activist, a CEO, an artist, a mother, etc. Women who follow their dreams to make the world a better place, and women who raise and educate the younger generations to be better! These are women with purpose!
As International Women’s Day is approaching can you tell us which woman you most admire and why?
The woman I admire the most is definitely my mother. She is so strong, so smart, and so dedicated. Raising a transgender daughter certainly wasn’t easy especially as a single parent. So many people had so many opinions of her and her parenting style, but she thought despite the criticism that me being free to be who I am and supporting me was the best for my growth.
My mother is unbelievably strong and dedicated and she raised me to be the same. She always told me I could be whoever I wanted, and that I could change the world, my mom was there for me when no one else was; encouraged me, and believed in me when no one else did. On my darkest days, she was always there to be a shoulder to cry on, she pushed me to be grateful for every moment and to find the beauty in the little things, so even when I was at my worst she taught me to pull myself out of the darkness and embrace the light. My mother is iconic, bold, loving, strong, and the woman I admire most.
You have many followers and fans who look up to you as their role model, are there any ‘words you live by’ that you can share to inspire them?
“If you don’t stand for something... You’ll fall for anything”
