`American Apparel' Gets Disabled Model

American Apparel is getting a new look when this disabled model named Jes steps into their threads.

Thursday, May 13, 2010 17:10 GMT

Though the clothing chain claims to use real, everyday women as models for their ads, photographer Holly Norris finds it odd that every girl in their campaigns fits a very particular body type – tall, skinny, and able-bodied.

So, she decided to give American Apparel’s marketing team a hand by snapping her own ads featuring a disabled model named Jes.

Norris explains, “Their campaigns are highly sexualized and feature women who appear to be able-bodied. Women with disabilities go under-represented not only in American Apparel advertising but also in most of popular culture.”

Norris says disabled women are never portrayed in a sexual manner because the minority is seen as “undesirable.”

The photog is hoping her shots lead American Apparel and the media in general to take people with disabilities out of the shadows.