Ellie, a lady with Down’s syndrome, models for Gucci and Vogue

At birth, the doctors predicted Ellie, who has Down’s syndrome,would ‘never walk or talk’, and one of the nurses even suggested that her parents might want to just ‘leave her’ at the hospital.

Elle has defied all expectations since her birth in December 2001, going on to make history as the first model with Down’s syndrome to feature in major international campaigns — Gucci hired her for its Unconventional Beauty adverts, landing her the cover of Italian Vogue in 2020.

At her birth, numerous antenatal scans had failed to detect any abnormalities, so her parents, and the medical staff, were shocked to discover Ellie had Down’s, as well as heart problems that required life-saving surgery, after she was delivered by Caesarean section.

Her mum, Yvonne, 59, who has supported Ellie every step of the way, admits she struggled to accept her daughter’s diagnosis, and even to bond with her, during those first few weeks.

All the feeding, nappy changing and soothing to sleep were done by Ellie’s dad, Mark, 63, a property manager, who would tell Yvonne: ‘We’ll take it one day at a time,’ while she looked after their older daughter, Amy, now 29.

 ‘The way they (the medics) handled it, that we might want to give her up, made me nervous about getting close to Ellie,’ recalls Yvonne. 

In fact, within a few weeks of her birth, as Ellie began responding to her parents with a gummy smile, Yvonne, who says she and Mark never discussed not keeping their daughter, found her maternal instincts over-riding all fears for the future and a bond did indeed begin to develop.

Although Yvonne struggled to look at her daughter’s face, with its telltale Down’s features, in those early days, she now recognises that it’s beautiful.

So lovely, in fact, it has graced the covers of numerous magazines, including Elle and Glamour, featured in promotions for Gucci Beauty, Adidas, TK Maxx, Body Shop, Boots, Spotify, Victoria’s Secret and Sports Direct, and even hung in the National Portrait Gallery in London on two occasions.