REDEFINING BEAUTY: HOW BROOKS GINNAN EMBRACED DIFFERENCE AND CONQUERED THE FASHION WORLD

Growing up, Brooks Ginnan heard one painful question over and over again: “Do you have cancer?” Born with ectodermal dysplasia—a rare genetic condition that affects the development of skin, hair, and teeth—Brooks was acutely aware from a young age that their body looked different. The stares and questions from other children made them increasingly self-conscious, leading them to equate beauty with nearly everything they were not.

This struggle contributed to anxiety and body dysmorphia, prompting Brooks to turn to music and fashion as coping mechanisms. If they could not fit conventional standards of beauty, they could at least control how they presented themselves to the world.

Modeling was never the initial goal. While studying performance art and photography at university, Brooks began experimenting with self-portraits. Encouraged by friends, they started posing for other photographers, which gradually evolved into professional modeling work. Soon, the person who once felt excluded from beauty standards found themselves working with renowned photographers like Tim Walker, walking for designers such as Charles Jeffrey, and appearing in top publications including Vogue and W.

Their career expanded into acting and music videos, appearing alongside Winona Ryder in A$AP Rocky’s “Punk Rocky,” as well as in projects for Sabrina Carpenter, Kesha, and JPEGMAFIA. However, Brooks maintains a strict rule: they refuse roles that use their unique features to portray disabled people as monstrous or frightening.

Today, being in front of the camera means embracing every part of their body they were once taught to hate. Brooks did not change their appearance to fit the world—they simply stopped viewing their unique features through the eyes of those who once mocked them.