Larissa Mariano: Fashion As a Tool for Belonging

The inclusive fashion journalist who transformed limitations into life lessons and built an international career alongside Samanta Bullock.

Cerebral palsy has done many things in my life, but none of them has made me paralysed.

Few opening statements capture a person's essence quite like this one from Larissa Mariano. The Brazilian journalist, who is part of the Bullock Inclusion team and helped organise The Future of Fashion event during London Fashion Week 2025, has built her career on the principle that limitations are merely invitations to innovate.

Availability is the gentlest and most achievable path when considering accessibility. When we make ourselves available to make things happen, regardless of the barriers, we manage to open pathways where diversity and inclusion are present in a space where everyone has the right to make choices, whether in their personal life, career, or dreams.

Larissa Mariano has built her life values by remaining open to opportunities. Through her journey, she teaches us not about each step, but rather about the confidence we need to navigate life with balance.

Diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 8 months old following careful observation of her motor and neurological development, Larissa has transformed her daily challenges into precious life lessons. "Lari", as everyone likes to call her, has learnt from her limitations, overcome pain, and recognised, from an early age, the small values in life's simplest things. Surrounded by love and affection, her limitations have shaped who she believes herself to be.

My disability is the sum of who I am, of my experiences, of my way of being. I always say that I'm not 'Larissa despite cerebral palsy'. I am with it. It's part of me. And bringing it into my personal life was inevitable.

From first feature to international runways

Now a journalist specialising in inclusivity, Larissa still remembers her first feature on the topic of inclusion in 2014, when the subject was addressed infrequently. She not only amplifies her voice by combining her professional knowledge as a communicator with her nearly 30 years of lived experience as a person with a disability, but also continues to influence people with her distinctive perspective on representing diversity and inclusion in the fashion industry.

I think that, generally speaking, we still have many challenges ahead to ensure fashion is seen as a tool for belonging and representation.

Larissa's life in the fashion world began at a young age, participating in productions themed around inclusion, fashion, and lifestyle, alongside international model Isabella Fiorentino and fashion consultant Arlindo Grund. Lari also walks the runways, where she physically represents her passion for the fashion universe.

Runways have always welcomed me with love, affection, and the possibility of creating within myself what I believe fashion to be.

The meeting with Samanta Bullock

Her encounter with Samanta Bullock came from the same vision and motivation: to transform the fashion world into an inclusive space.

In 2020, Lari was part of Samanta's team when Samanta founded SB Shop, a consultancy and design initiative focused on inclusive fashion.

Larissa's contributions were in the communications sphere, including managing social media content, conducting interviews, and collaborating on the #SBChallenge and Imperfection projects.

Producing fashion shows for London Fashion Week and actively participating in the Bullock Inclusion team as operations and marketing coordinator happened naturally and today reflects the building of an international career. For Larissa, being part of this project also means forging pathways by utilising communication and professionalism as tools for redefining fashion's purpose.

Working at London Fashion Week was one of the most unique and challenging experiences of my career. I found a way for communication to align with my life's purpose: talking about inclusion and fashion as a factor of belonging.

Being involved in every detail of building the event, from the very first edition, was intensive work. Having the opportunity to experience this by walking the runway, representing what she believes in, not only through words but also physically, was unlike anything she had done professionally before. For her, the future of fashion is built in the actions we take today.

Fashion is a space for everyone and always will be. Fashion is a tool made for belonging, for celebrating, for communicating messages without needing to use a single word. May we use this to express our hearts and ideas into something greater.