A Beautiful Two-Year-Old Girl With Down Syndrome Becomes Face Of Children’s Fashion Campaign
According to their website, JoJo Maman Bébé is “the UK’s favorite boutique mother & baby brand.” They discovered a cute little two-year-old Eleanor Manton on her family’s Instagram page and couldn’t resist asking her to pose for their business. According to the Daily Mail, Leamington Spa parent Helen Manton, 36, claimed her daughter “jumped for delight” when she received the email from the firm and agreed to pose for their ad right away. The shoot had to take place at home because to the pandemic. Eleanor’s mother Helen took wonderful images of her in her grandparents’ back yard using her phone.
Two-year-old Eleanor Manton, who has Down syndrome, is now featured in a campaign with UK-based children’s clothing brand @JoJoMamanBebe. We love to see representation like this! https://t.co/YTeQgViojn
— Global Down Syndrome (@GDSFoundation) August 25, 2020
Dad served as “chief grin co-ordinator” while mum was behind the camera and Eleanor was in front of it. Craig Manton, 40, would do a silly dance in the background to keep Eleanor happy and laughing. “When I saw those ad photographs, I don’t believe the word ‘bursting with pride’ cuts it,” Helen, a mother of one, said. Just seeing her beautiful happy smile, she’s like a ray of sunshine, was fantastic, and it made me so pleased. She’s always been a natural in front of the camera, but it’s been a little more difficult since she started walking since she simply wants to get away. The importance of persons with Down syndrome being visible in the mainstream media cannot be overstated. I believe it would benefit both those who receive the awful diagnosis and us. We might not receive the strange looks anymore when we stroll to the park; perhaps, one day, we won’t.”
The mantons, the family’s Instagram profile, began as a feel-good account documenting the family’s Down syndrome experience. “We publish ordinary, daily stuff,” Helen explained, “it’s basically a feel-good positive page to highlight the reality and how great the world is.” The Down syndrome community is quite close-knit; you’ll get texts saying ‘welcome to the family’ right away, and you’ll definitely get that family feeling.” “After Eleanor was born, I made a birth announcement on Facebook stating, ‘here’s my kid, I’m incredibly proud, and yeah, she has Down syndrome,” she added.
Every single comment I received on that post was nice, including one from parenting blogger Giovanna Fletcher, and then I started uploading regular baby images and it took off, so I went with it.” “Early in lockdown I was posting typical every-day stuff from her then one night I glanced up my emails and couldn’t believe my eyes,” she said of the time JoJo reached out to her. JoJo sent me an email asking if she could participate in the autumn/winter 2020 campaign.
I was overjoyed, literally jumping for pleasure; it was incredible. A few days later, a slew of wonderful outfits came, and we began photographing them. Eleanor has participated in a few social media collaborations but has never done any modeling. It was a nerve-wracking experience, because I wanted to make sure everything was perfect for them.”
Eleanor identifies herself in the images, according to Manton, and exclaims, “That’s me.” “Hopefully, more businesses will become more inclusive.” If children like Eleanor are visible in the fashion business, it will continue to raise awareness… and people will not be surprised when they see children like Eleanor,” she stated. “I simply want to spread awareness,” she continued, “that she is just like any other young girl, and that having a kid with Down syndrome is a plus, not a bad.” The family has been supportive of activities that assist to shine a good light on families with Down syndrome members. The family was featured in a film last year to promote the benefits of being a parent to a kid with Down syndrome.
According to the Leamington Courier, the pair backed the ‘Wouldn’t Change a Thing’ campaign, which was made famous by the viral film 50 Mums | 50 Kids | 1 Extra Chromosome and drew worldwide attention. Craig and other fathers starred in the video “Dads Don’t Count Chromosomes” to show that they love and accept their children with Down syndrome just as much as their mothers do.
“We realized we’d never be able to equal the moms’ capacity to tug on the world’s heartstrings, so we opted for some good-natured rivalry instead,” project leader Jamie McCallum said. Dads who have children with special needs are under-represented and under-supported, despite the fact that they play a critical role in advocating for our children.