Quadruple Amputee Model Makes Fashion Week History

Karen Crespo made fashion history on September 5th when she became the first quadruple amputee to walk at New York Fashion Week.

Thirty one-year-old Karen lost four limbs after contracting bacterial meningitis two years ago.

Inspired by Carrie Hammer's New York Fashion Week show last February which featured a model in a wheelchair, Karen contacted the designer.

“A light bulb went off. I had an a-ha moment,” said Karen. “I thought, what a great idea to have this kind of disability awareness. I thought, this might be my purpose in life.”

This gorgeous quadruple amputee model just made Fashion Week history http://t.co/6eEPQpFC9c pic.twitter.com/SmpUpQYRwA

— Mic (@micnews) September 5, 2014

 

During their first Skype call, Karen explained to Carrie that after her specially made prostheses were delivered to her home via FedEx, someone stole them from her front porch.

The designer then contacted Hanger Orthopedics in Austin, Texas and after several calls, the company replaced Karen's prosthetic arms.

Carrie then invited Karen to model at her second New York Fashion Week show on Friday, as part of her "Role Models, Not Runway Models" initiative.

Prior to the show, Carrie told Today.com she was inspired by Karen saying: “The fact that she’s going to be on the runway and serve as an inspiration for so many other women is so exciting for me, because Karen is an inspiration to me".

Carrie pictured at her show last week (also wearing a red dress similar to Karen's outfit, pictured above)

The dress Karen wore in the show was designed especially for her. "The Karen" is an A-line, scoop-back, beneath-the-knee dress. It's also red, “because she and I bonded over the love of wearing red lipstick" said Carrie.

A transgender women, a race car driver, a veteran and government workers also walked in the Carrie Hammer show last week.