April Lockhart brings disabled fashion girlies to TikTok
“I think the disabled community is kind of the last frontier" for representation.
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Also: Read April in her own words! —Kate
TikTok’s influence on fashion extends from checkered prints all the way to the foot pop that’s now ubiquitous in every outfit video on the app. And while it has accelerated trends, it has also homogenized the industry. In 2022, April Lockhart hopes to change that.
Born with amniotic band syndrome, which resulted in her not having a left hand, the Nashville-based creator has now spent over 30 days “normalizing disabled fashion girlies in your feed.” Her video project showcases cutout sweaters, loafers, oversized blazers, and other pieces of the moment on a disabled body, in hopes of diversifying representation on social media and in marketing.
“There's so much comparison on the internet and also a lot of people just trying to create the same thing, which I think leads us not to a place we need to be,” Lockhart tells me in a phone call.
Lockhart, who works in communications at ILIA beauty, started on YouTube as a musician before joining Instagram and diving headfirst into the world of fashion and skincare, earning over 34,000 followers in the process. After joining TikTok, she made the decision to never downplay her disability, but embrace it alongside her other passions.
“The community on TikTok is just absolutely lovely,” says Lockhart, who recently reached 10,000 followers on the app. “They're like a team of hype people.”
Her openness has earned her countless grateful messages from fellow disabled viewers and an invitation to speak at a Vanderbilt University class. And it is already changing how brands work with and showcase disabled creators, she says. In this interview for paid subscribers, we spoke about her fashion project on TikTok, her decision to be more open about her disability on social media, and why representation of the disabled community in fashion and beauty has been so slow to arrive.