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| Jourdan Dunn wearing a custom made design by Jean Paul Gaultier while 8 months pregnant. Image from Fashionista.com -
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Y'know the old saying "there's more to someone than first meets the eye"? Well today, for me that saying well and truly bitch slapped me across the face.
You see, whilst casually scrolling through my daily check of twitter, I saw a tweet which really opened my eyes about someone. The tweet came from none other than top British model, Jourdan Dunn.
It simply said:
"My Son has just made up his own Boobie song......."
Now I might be a year or so late on this one but seriously, when did the model-of-the-moment and all round British beauty manage to fit in having a child into her what can only be assumed as extremely busy career?!
This is why I am now in awe of this woman.
For those of you who don't know, back when the 22 year old was just 18, she discovered that she was pregnant. By this time, she'd already been working in the industry for three years, after being discovered by model giants Storm when she was shopping in Primark.
Within a year, she was walking on the catwalks of London, Paris, Milan and New York and was the FIRST black model to walk a Prada runway in over a decade.
Since then she's graced the cover of the world's top magazines including Vogue, been named Model of the Year at the 2008 British Fashion Awards, and modelled for the world's most talked about designers including Burberry, Victoria's Secret, Calvin Klein and Yves Saint Laurent. Oh, and you might have spotted her at the 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony in London where she wore a beautiful gold and white gown by Jonathan Saunders and stood proudly next to the UK's most celebrated models including Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Georgia May Jagger.
All of this is an incredible amount of achievements for a 22 year old to have under their belt. I mean, I'm 21 now and feel like I've barely started on my quest for world domination (jokes). But what makes this woman truly astonishing to me personally is that throughout all of this, she still has time and MAKES time to raise her son, Riley, who has sickle-cell anaemia.
You might think that having a demanding career means the London born girl has to take a step back when it comes to being a mother or that maybe she is limited in what she can do as a model but you honestly couldn't be far from the truth.
In an interview in Vogue dated just last year, Dunn explains how she is going to use her high profile image to raise awareness of her son's disease by supporting the Sickle Cell Society and fundraising through charity events.
Sickle Cell Anaemia is a disease that is passed down genetically. Jourdan's son has it because both she and his father carry it. Sufferers experience painful sickle cell crisis' which mean they have to take strong medication and spend time in hospital. However, despite having a demanding career, Jourdan still ensures that her son is always her main priority, bringing him up as a single mother with the help of her own mother.
I know there's going to be a few of you who will say that her career means she can't be there for her son, but Jourdan and myself disagree. The model told the Sunday Times Style:
"I'm a mother first then a model, and generally the industry is really supportive. This is a good career for a working mother."
What surprised me so much about this is not only how she manages to get through the challenges of being a working model-mother, but also the challenges from the industry, which is apparently renowned for being tough and cut-throat. I mean, it's hard enough for anyone to adjust to being a mother and getting back to work, let alone someone who's whole career revolves around how they look in clothes.
However,speaking to Vogue UK, she said:
“The agency really looked out for me, I went back to work [nine months after giving birth]– I didn’t feel any pressure to go back quickly, and when I did everyone was really supportive.”
“The models with children would make sure I was eating properly and gave me a private area to breastfeed, and Heidi Mount, who has a child, is great,” she continued. “She’s going to be my advice line when I move to New York.”
Now I know that there a lot of a working-model mothers out there, but correct me if I'm wrong, there aren't that many 22 year old mothers working in the industry. So, for that reason, I take my hat off completely to this woman. She is an inspiration no matter which way you look at it. Like she said, first of all she's a (incredible) mother and then she's a model, a god damn hard working and successful one at that.
What do you guys think?
By Mimi
Twitter: @miaholtInstagram: Mia_Holt
