'People are ready for this': Alta. modelling agency only reps disabled, visibly different talent
'People are ready for this': Alta. modelling agency only reps disabled, visibly different talent
An Edmonton couple has created a modelling agency that exclusively represents disabled and visibly different talent.
Katie MacMillan and Austin Allanach were inspired to create Kello Inclusive after their daughter Kelty’s experiences as a model.
Kelty has Cerebral Palsy. Her mother said she was inspired to send photos of Kelty to a talent agency after seeing a girl in a magazine with a pediatric mobility aid.
“I remember thinking how rare it was to see mobility aids in, anywhere really. Especially in a magazine,” she told CTV News Edmonton.
“I kind of filed it away until I had some time like we all did during COVID, and decided to, on a whim, send her images into a modelling agency that was based in Calgary.”
Kelty worked with the agency for two years, but her parents felt it wasn’t a good fit for a person with a disability.
Kelty Allanach (Credit: Kello Inclusive)
“There were some great experiences, but we also kinda learned that a lot of that industry didn’t really know what to do with disability.”
The couple learned of an agency overseas that represents persons with disabilities, but were disappointed to learn there was no such agency in Canada.
“Then Austin, who is the entrepreneurial spirit of the two of us said, ‘Well, let's just start one.’”
Kelty Allanach on a runway in Toronto. (Credit: Katie MacMillan)
Six months ago, Kello Inclusive was born.
MacMillian says the reaction has been swift and encouraging.
“In a word, amazing,” she said.
“It speaks to the fact that people are ready for this.”
She said they have already signed over 50 models from across the country, and they’re working with a number of brands, from local, small businesses in Edmonton, to national chains.
“The fact that we’ve moved as quickly as we have, and made as many connections as we have, has been the most exciting part,” she said.
'It's just expanded these incredible possibilities'
Alexis Hillyard is one of those models.
The 40-year-old mom was born without her left hand.
“I am a congenital amputee, which means I was born without, for me in my case, my left hand. The doctors aren’t really sure why or how,” she said.
“It’s pretty rare. You don’t run into people on the street who have the same disability as this. So it’s pretty wonderful to see anybody who is missing a limb, but particularly seeing more people online and in photoshoots and media that represent this body.”
Hillyard has been creating content online for the last six-and-a-half years, but she says having the support of an agency behind her has been a game changer.
“Having Kello step in and be my agent and act on my behalf, it’s just expanded these incredible possibilities for myself.”
“They’ve worked with, already, Superstore, getting me a really awesome brand deal with them, and we’re talking to other companies.”
She said Kello is able to advocate for disabled models in a way other agencies might not think to.
Alexis Hillyard (Credit: Kello Inclusive)
“Knowing that there are some important factors you have to consider when you’re doing a brand deal or a modelling gig, is your space wheelchair accessible, for example?”
“As they are going out into the world and representing disabled talent, they’re also going to be in a way, teaching companies and brands how to be able to expand their practices to include more disabled talent, which is so important.”
Hillyard has connected with a number of families as a result of her disability. She says for many of the children she meets, it’s the first time they’ve met someone else like themselves.
“Whenever I meet these kids online or in person, it’s like this huge weight is lifted off for both of us, because we can just breathe. We just kind of get each other.”
She’s hoping having more models with disabilities in major campaigns will help people with disabilities feel seen and accepted.
“You just feel a bit more seen in yourself. I think that’s what Kello is doing, and it’s really, really awesome.”
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nahreman Issa.
The Biden administration is considering a plan to shoot down a large Chinese balloon suspected of conducting surveillance on U.S. military, by bringing it down once it is above the Atlantic Ocean where the remnants could potentially be recovered, according to four U.S. officials.
Convicted murderer Daniel Jolivet, in prison for the past 30 years, has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested. W5 reviews the evidence he painstakingly assembled while behind bars. W5's documentary 'Buried Evidence' airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on CTV.
The massive white orb drifting across U.S. airspace has triggered a diplomatic maelstrom and is blowing up on social media. A look at what's known about the balloon crossing the U.S. and what isn't.
The oldest preserved vertebrate brain has been found in a 319-million-year-old fossilized fish skull that was removed from an English coal mine over a century ago.
In the field of cancer treatment, nothing is more important than diagnosing and treating the problem as quickly as possible — but according to new survey data, about one in four Canadian cancer patients report that they are still experiencing cancelled or postponed appointments.
Alberta's high court is being asked to overturn a review board decision relating to the stabbing deaths of five young people at a Calgary house party on the grounds the former provincial justice minister interfered.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes kept Connor Bedard off the scoresheet for the first time in 36 games, but it wasn't enough, as the 'Canes lost 3-2 to the Regina Pats Friday night.
The suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that was found floating over sensitive military sites in the western United States had been tracked by Canada's government since last weekend as it passed through Canadian airspace, sources tell CTV News.
Saskatchewan is reacting to the removal of controversial amendment G4 to Bill C-21 by the federal Liberals, which banned certain semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.
The first North Atlantic right whale to be entangled in connection to Canada’s lobster fishery in over five years has been successfully rescued by marine mammal rescue responders in the United States.
A spokesperson for the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) says Metrolinx began cutting down historic trees at Osgoode Hall in Toronto on Saturday before the Ontario Superior Court could hear an injunction to prevent their clearing.
Joey Votto has been coming to the Annex Chess Club (ACC), just north of Bathurst and Bloor streets, every week for a few months now, according to Supol.
Residents from Quebec to Newfoundland and Labrador are waking up this morning to more extreme cold weather. Emergency officials warned people to seek shelter and monitor for frostbite if they had to be outside overnight, as the temperature across much of Eastern Canada was expected to feel like -40 C to -50 C with the wind chill.
Another property reportedly belonging to a family member of Tony Accurso was the target of an arson attack in Laval early Saturday morning. The Laval fire department responded to a call at 3:22 a.m. about a fire at the building located at 1410 Jaffa Street in the Saint Rose district in the northern part of Laval.
An investigation that lasted almost two years has resulted in moose hunting violation convictions for six people and a lodge in Red Lake in northwestern Ontario.
Convicted murderer Daniel Jolivet, in prison for the past 30 years, has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested. W5 reviews the evidence he painstakingly assembled while behind bars. W5's documentary 'Buried Evidence' airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on CTV.
The owner of Radical Gardens, a restaurant in Timmins said she's experienced nineteen robberies over the last eight years; with the most recent one taking place in the early morning hours Friday.
WINNIPEG -- An Indigenous organization is spearheading efforts to develop a system that could make it easier to flag when a person experiencing homelessness is missing.
Winnipeg police released a new image of a 31-year-old woman who has been missing since early last year on Friday in the hope it may generate new information on her whereabouts.
A man who took part in four traffic-stopping protests in Metro Vancouver in an effort to save old-growth forests has been given a conditional sentence and six months' probation by a provincial court judge.
Vancouver Canucks faithful have seen it all during yet another disappointing season - and several say they're frustrated not only with the on-ice performance, but with a lack of answers from the team's front office.
A man who took part in four traffic-stopping protests in Metro Vancouver in an effort to save old-growth forests has been given a conditional sentence and six months' probation by a provincial court judge.
Kelty Allanach (Credit: Kello Inclusive)
Kelty Allanach on a runway in Toronto. (Credit: Katie MacMillan)
Alexis Hillyard (Credit: Kello Inclusive)
