The child of two models who booked her first job at just two months old, Lauren Wasser’s future in fashion seemed set in stone, until 2012 when she nearly lost her life to Toxic Shock Syndrome after using a tampon. Wasser defied the odds, waking up from a coma after being given less than 1 per cent chance of survival, but the condition resulted in the amputation of both of her legs; first her right then, in 2018, her left.
After years of pain, Wasser “took back control of her life”, embracing her new prosthetic legs and making them “a spectacle of gold for all to see”. After making her modelling debut at New York Fashion Week in September 2018, Vogue labelled her “fashion’s girl with the golden legs”, and a new era of Wasser’s career began. Across the last four years, she’s walked and fronted campaigns for Savage x Fenty, Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Balenciaga, Off-White, and more using the momentum and her platform to educate women about hygiene products, campaigning for transparency around the risks involved, and filming a documentary about her journey. A spot on the 2017 Forbes 30 under 30 list was followed by being named as Harper's Bazaar’s Woman of the Year 2022. Now a regular on the runway and magazine covers, Wasser wants to show the world that there is beauty in diversity.
Text Sophie Benson
