Fierce Woman in a Wheelchair Stars in New Diesel Ad

Diesel’s working on a bit of a reboot, and they’ve just unveiled the first images from a new spring/summer ad campaign. One of the stars? Ultra-hip fashion blogger Jillian Mercado, who runs Manufactured1987 and happens to get around in a wheelchair. Yup, it’s in the ads, too.

Diesel artistic director Nicola Formichetti explained the casting to Women’s Wear Daily, saying the new campaign was “about the group, the gang, the tribe, the community. The people got to us in different ways but they’re connected visually, physically, mentally and denim is the thing that unites all of them. And that’s the theme and the tag line — we are connected.”

And Mercado in particular caught his eye:

He was especially taken with New York-based — and wheelchair-bound — fashion blogger Jillian Mercado, photographed in tandem with visual artist James Astronaut. “It’s never easy for her to move from point A to point B, but she’s totally fearless and has really been an inspiration to me,” Formichetti said. “You don’t have to be a conventional model type to represent a brand.”

It’s infinitely more appealing than those old “be stupid” ads. Check out this interview with Mercado for a side-serving of awesome. Now, could someone be a peach and tell me where she got that lipstick?