About ten years ago, American supermodel Lauren Wasser, suffering from depression, thought her modeling career was over. “When I awoke from a medically induced coma in a Santa Monica hospital room one day in early October 2012, in excruciating pain, I was not only unrecognizable: stripped of all my identity, beauty, and beauty. The body, which I thought, made me,” he said in August. wrote in a 2022 essay for British Vogue.
She was reflecting on what happened to her a decade ago when she was 24. She was found unconscious in her home and taken to hospital where she was diagnosed with toxic shock syndrome or TSS – a condition caused by an overgrowth of bacteria in the body associated with tampon use.
After suffering two heart attacks and her kidneys failing, she was given only a 1% chance of survival. Shortly thereafter, after awaking from a coma, he was reported to have gangrene in his lower leg. It had to be amputated.
Loving yourself
Her new reality seemed overwhelming.
After all, she grew up among models. Her parents were both models themselves and Lauren landed her first gig as a two-month-old alongside her mother, Pamela Cook, in the Italian edition of Vogue. In California, Wasser grew up among the likes of supermodels Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford.
Grieving the loss of her leg, she wrote, “She would sit on a stool in the shower and cry out to God, wondering why and how this had happened. I never thought I’d love again; I never thought I’d be like this. I wanted—I definitely wanted the fashion world to love me.” I didn’t think he would accept it.”
This will prove to be far from the truth in the long run.
Dig deep to find beauty
Battling depression and suicidal thoughts, “I had to force myself to dig deep to see that beauty is not only found in the physical, but how it affects others and the world.” That deep sense of self led Wasser to create a new sense of style. After losing her second lower leg several years ago, prosthetics were the only option for her, but she hated the standard, medical-problem order.
“I’ve always loved gold, so I decided to make my feet into a piece of jewelry, to consciously make something that people would look at and be fascinated by. The result, I believe, is something close to art,” Wasser wrote. Known as the “girl with the golden legs” of fashion.
Now, nearly 10 years after she died, those golden prosthetic legs have seen her grace the pages of Vogue and Elle alongside Louis Vuitton and Dolce & Gabbana.
As Wasser wrote in his Vogue essay, referring to the finale of his spring collection’s fashion show in May 2022: “Like a knight in shining armor: how I felt when I closed the Louis Vuitton cruise show in San Diego this past May. As the sun. Set behind the beautiful, brutalist Salk Institute, Casting long shadows on the concrete runway, I stepped out in a floor-sweeping silver coat — my legs golden as the evening dawn’s light, shining beneath metallic shorts — guiding the army. Model after me.”
Major performances on and off the catwalk
That exciting catwalk led to other stellar appearances, such as the 2023 edition of the famous Pirelli Calendar, a British-Italian, limited-edition glamor photography extravaganza.
Lauren Wasser – who throughout her life as a basketball player as well as a marathon runner using the “Golden Blade” has inspired her – inspired Australian photographer Emma Summerton, who photographed for Pirelli.
For the 2023 calendar’s Love Letters to the Muses, Summerton chose Wasser to embody “The Athlete”, who doesn’t compete in the Olympics, but in life… a ‘Joan of Arc figure’ who never backs down from fear. Never backed down.”
“I’m an athlete. I’d rather beat up guys and play basketball than sit in stilettos. That’s the way I’ve always been,” Wasser told Pirelli, speaking of his bold attitude.
Wasser is using her status in the fashion world to help reshape the industry’s definition of beauty and acceptance of diversity.
Awareness about women’s health
“Over the past decade since I landed the TSS contract, I’ve seen the industry slowly embrace inclusivity, but make no mistake: I had to fight for my place. There was no blueprint for a model like me. Rarely has anyone like me appeared on the runway. I made my own. Lane, I had to create my own way of being. Walking into the Louis Vuitton show felt like I had come full circle,” wrote Lauren Wasser in Vogue.
She also uses her celebrity to raise awareness about women’s health and the dangers of various feminine hygiene products. “There needs to be more transparency and greater information about what can happen if you use tampons and the onus is on corporations to provide that,” she pointed out.
“Take the tampon commercials: you see a girl running on the beach, but where’s the warning about the potentially deadly harm the product can cause? I always use cigarettes as an example: you see the box and see what could happen, but this is it. To smoke or not Your choice. The same should be true of feminine hygiene products. The question is, when will women’s healthcare be taken seriously?”
In that end, Wasser has shown that it’s every woman for herself, but she’s definitely trying to be a role model.
“…I hold true to one simple core belief: I am like everyone else. I can wear anything, I can do anything. What’s the difference? My feet are made of gold. It’s a belief that extends to everyone. Aspects of my life — As a gay woman, I think everyone deserves to find someone who makes them feel special, special and loved. We are all human and should be accepted for who we are, not rejected for who we are. Love or what we look like.”
Edited by: Brenda Haas