Jillian Mercado

Diagnosed with muscular dystrophy as a teen, Jillian studied fashion marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York at a time when disabled models were scarce. When she decided to pursue modelling as a career, her search for a mentor with a physical disability came up empty. “I didn’t think it was a possibility,” she says of the career she’d imagined. “Not because I didn’t think I was worthy of it, but because I didn’t see anyone else like me out there.” But an open casting call for Diesel changed all that and today, Jillian is signed to IMG Models, the powerhouse agency that represents top supermodels like Gisele Bündchen and Kate Moss.