Who is Sofia Jirau? Puerto Rican, 25, becomes first Victoria’s Secret model with Down Syndrome
A model with Down Syndrome named Sofia Jirau is making waves across the Internet after she became the first model with the condition to be hired by Victoria’s Secret. The 25-year-old Puerto Rican model has been featured in Victoria’s Secret’s latest campaign that also saw 17 other women as part of the brand’s new advertisement titled “Love Cloud”, released on Valentine’s Day.
Sofia took to her Instagram to share the big news as congratulations poured in for the model. A 14-year-old model Georgia Traebert also made headlines in 2019 when she got signed by five different agencies after scouts spotted her "inspirational" photographs on social media. A 19-year-old model named Kate Grant too broke the Internet after she became the first model with Down Syndrome to win an international beauty pageant.
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Who is Sofia Jirau?
Sofia kickstarted her modeling career in Puerto Rico in 2019. In the same year, she launched her successful online fashion store called Alavett derived from her favorite English phrase ‘I love it’. She enjoys close to 260K followers on Instagram. According to her official site, she always dreamt of modeling on the runway of one of the most important fashion shows in the world. Jirau earlier made news after she became one of the few models to appear in the 2020 New York Fashion Week. She made her runway debut on her 23rd birthday in 2019.
Taking to her Instagram, she thanked her followers for the support stating “One day I dreamed of it, I worked on it and today it is a dream come true. Can I finally tell you my big secret? I am the first Victoria’s Secret model with Down syndrome! Thanks to all of you for always supporting me in my projects. Thanks to @victoriassecret for seeing me as a #NoLimits model and making me part of the Love Cloud Collection inclusion campaign.”
‘I look at myself in the mirror and I get strength’
Speaking in an interview with Remezcla, Sofia earlier spoke about becoming a model entrepreneur ever since she was five years old. “I’m going all over the world. There is no fear. In and out, there are no limits. I’m not scared of anything.” Shedding light on the challenges she finds in the industry, she added, “I look at myself in the mirror and I get strength.”
