But Sams didn't anticipate the flood of positive feedback from social media users. "I was initially afraid that there would be a lot of rude comments, since disabled models aren't really a thing," she says. "Instead, I was overwhelmed with support and love and so many people saying how much it meant [...] that they had someone that looked like them, or had the same chronic illnesses as them, in big media."
"I've had a lot of people with my same chronic illnesses message me and say that finding out we shared illnesses made them feel less alone[,]" Sams says. "It gave a lot of people confidence in themselves and started a fire in a lot of people."
The campaign has been praised by multiple outlets as an example of authentic inclusion in fashion imagery.
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COURTESY OF AERIE
Sams was a fan of Aerie's body-positive ethos before modeling for the brand. “Seeing models with stretch marks and belly rolls meant a lot to a lot of people, myself included,” she says of the first #AerieREAL ads from 2014. She believes featuring women with chronic illnesses and disabilities is an even bigger move for the company.
Sams became chronically ill during high school, which was a critical time for her body image and mental health. "I had never seen myself represented after I got sick in media like this," she says. "When I was younger, I was able-bodied and didn't really think about it—at that time, I was upset [that] all the models were tall and thin." She wants Aerie's campaign to change how able-bodied shoppers perceive women with disabilities: “I want to normalize diversity and disability. I want [people] to see it and know that limitations don't mean I'm sitting at home, wallowing in self pity. I can do things and have fun and be a model, all while being chronically ill, and that's normal.”
