You Have To See These 9 Gorgeous Models Who Are Changing The Beauty Industry Forever

Born in a refugee camp in Kenya, this 19-year-old Somali-American beauty queen has been changing the way people view fashion from as early as high school, where she was the first girl ever elected Prom Queen to wear a hijab. Aden went on to be the first woman to compete in the Miss Missouri USA pageant wearing a hijab and a burkini. Now, she'll be judging the Miss USA 2017 pageant after having been invited to walk runways for Yeezy in the US and Max Marra and Alberta Ferreti in Milan.

Precious Lee was the very first plus-sized African American model to appear in Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue in 2016. She's also starred in several campaigns for plus-sized fashion designer Lane Bryant, including #I'mNoAngel, #PlusIsEqual, and #ThisBody. Although Lee's modelling career started off slower, she soared after she started trusting and believing in herself. According to Lee, "Once I started sticking to my guns and trusting my own voice, that’s when everything started to click for me… Because when you’re truly connected to yourself, everyone around you can feel it."

Born in Thailand with no legs, Sesser was adopted at a young age and grew up in Portland, Oregon, where she found that she could do just about anything as an athlete. That passion for sports eventually led her into sports modelling and even lingerie modelling for global brands such as Nike, Billabong, and Panty Prop. Sesser's true passion is still for athletics, but she says that she really enjoys modelling as well. "It’s something fun and it shows my story. I’m different and that is sexy. I don’t need legs to feel sexy.”

Jillian Mercado, a model born to Dominican parents, was born with muscular dystrophy and has lived most of her life in a wheel chair, but that hasn't stopped her from pursuing a career in modelling and appearing in campaigns for Nordstrom, Target, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Glassbook, Carine Roitfeld’s CR Fashion Book, and even the merchandise for Beyonce's Formation World Tour. Mercado spoke about modelling with her disability, saying, "I’m showing that having a disability doesn’t have to be ugly, and how it should be embraced. I wish I had that role model growing up, but to be that role model is great.”

Winnie Harlow is one of the most successful and memorable contestants from America's Next Top Model ever. Discovered by Tyra Banks on Instagram in 2014, Harlow has come a long way from her days of being teased in school and called names like "zebra" and "cow." Since competing on Top Model, she's appeared in Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Vogue Italia, Ebony, and a Sprite commercial. According to Harlow, her success came with confidence. "I loved myself. And with that, opportunities started to fall into my lap.”

A particularly unique model, Melanie Gaydos is a 28-year-old art student who was born with ectodermal dysplasia, a genetic disorder that interferes with the growth of hair, nails, teeth, skin and glands. After more than forty corrective surgeries as a child, Melanie is still partially blind and has no teeth, refusing to wear dentures. According to Gaydos, "Having teeth … just made other people around me feel better. I knew that I was the only person who looked like me. I was the only person who had my sense of vision and such a unique way of looking at the world."

A Senegalese model, Khoudia Diop was often bullied for her dark skintone as a child, but when she moved to Paris at the age of 15, she was told that she should really think about modelling. Now, she works for The Colored Girl, an online space that celebrates and focuses on the issues of women of color in beauty and fashion, and she's also an anti-bullying activist. According to Diop, "One of my goals is to make all my dark-skinned sisters out there laugh at those mf with their ‘beauty standards.’ They’re nobody, noooobody, to tell you how you should look. Keep glowing, queen.'"

Madeline Stuart is the world's first supermodel with Down Syndrome and has walked in many fashion shows, including New York Fashion Week, Art Hearts Fashion Week, Style Fashion Week, Melange Fashion Week, Caspian Fashion, Runway Dubai, Mercedes Benz Fashion Week China, Birmingham Fashion Week, and Sunshine Coast Fashion Festival. She was also featured in Vogue in 2017 and has now started her own clothing label, 21 Reasons Why. Her mom, Rosanna, says, "The one thing I have always ingrained in Madeline is to believe in herself and to never give up." She certainly shows no signs of stopping.

Born with a rare connective tissue disorder called Dermatosparaxis Ehlers-Dalos Syndrome (EDS), Sara Geurts, at only 26 years old, looks much older with many premature wrinkles, but that isn't stopping her from pursuing her dreams of modelling and challenging industry standards of beauty. She's even modeled in lingerie for Victoria's Secret. According to Geurts, "My skin was my biggest insecurity, but now I think it’s just the most beautiful thing ever.” We have to agree that her skin is certainly entrancing.

What do you think of these amazing models? Talk to us about them in the comments below, and share with your friends to see what they think!