“I was on the cover of an American design magazine wearing carbon fiber running legs, and Nick Knight gave the issue to Lee McQueen. Then I got a letter from Lee, which read: It basically went something like this: “We really like what you have to say about what it means to be beautiful. Would you please get on a plane to London and meet us?” I didn’t know anything about it, but my makeup artist told me to “prepare to walk on a razor’s edge.”
“I flew to London, arrived at the studio and was introduced to Lee. He was very shy but gave me a big hug. It was an instant feeling of being seen and known. He had architectural drawings for three different types of prosthetics, which he spread out on the table: one made of wood, one made of polished mirror chrome, and the last one made of feathers. He asked me if I could open his next show, and I had three months to transform from athlete to runway model. Around Georgetown University. I remember practicing this stalkerish walk, and even the postman gave me advice like, “You have to be more bossy!”
“The legs were completed seven hours before the show and each weighed about 10 pounds. No one knew that a girl with a prosthetic leg would be walking on this show, and it had never been done before. The stakes felt really high because she had never seen it before. Neither the models backstage nor the audience knew, and it wasn’t until much later that Lee mentioned they had prosthetics. The purpose was not to shock people, but to present something beautiful and create a work of art.
“The actual catwalk had rotating wooden discs. Imagine Lazy Susan sinking to the floor and being swept away by water, wearing a lace-up corset and unable to look down. I had a complete panic attack right before the show because I could only move one arm and it was hard to move with my wooden legs. I was wondering if it would be a huge leap forward for diversity or people would think I was the girl with the prosthetic legs and it would be hard for me to move. I thought either I couldn’t do it or I would fall into a spinning disc. I remember thinking to myself, “I ran in an Olympic stadium, I can do this.” Erin O’Connor was very nice to me and before she left she put my arm around her waist and her hand on my back and that was it.
“Over the years, I’ve received letters about what that show means to people. To have someone say, ‘I look at you and I can feel that you’re beautiful.’ is very powerful. We should be able to do that ourselves, but it’s easier said than done. And it’s different when someone else who is a growing giant in their field congratulates you and says, “You’re beautiful.” Lee did that with many women. ”