In the words of his mum, he has “striking, unusual features” and he “charms the pants off everyone he meets”. When Caroline White took to the M&S Facebook page at the end of August to describe her son Seb, she can’t have imagined that less than a month on he’d have appeared on the front page of The Times, been the subject of a tweet from Liz Hurley and be about to feature in the Christmas issue of the Your M&S Magazine.
Seb, who has Down’s syndrome, is well on his way to becoming the nation’s most famous 4 year old, after a week that’s seen him make headlines in just about all of the daily papers, as well as receiving thousands of mentions across social networks. We first became aware of Seb when his mum introduced him to us on our Facebook page, adding that Seb was available if we needed a fresh face to appear in any of our new campaigns. We immediately loved Seb, and a week later we had him in a West London studio at the shoot for our Christmas magazine.

During the shoot, we caught up with Seb’s mum, Caroline, to ask what motivated her to get in touch:Â
“When Seb was born it was a real shock at first, I was really scared – I didn’t know the first thing about Down’s syndrome, or how to look after a Down’s syndrome child.
As Seb got older, I started to look around and I noticed that kids with Down’s weren’t really represented by big retailers, even in major campaigns where a large number of children may have been used. I started to think that if there were more images of Down’s syndrome kids out there, it might help to take a bit of the fear away for new parents.
I decided to get in touch with M&S because they really represent family values to me, and when I posted on their Facebook page it gave me a real boost when people rallied behind me and seemed to agree that it would be great for M&S to use Seb in a campaign.”

About the star: Seb turns 5 in February and has recently started mainstream school. He loves toy cars, ice cream and dancing to the Muppets, he hates having his hair cut!
You can find Seb modelling our latest kidswear in the Nov/Dec edition of the Your M&S Magazine, available Nov 9th in all M&S Stores.
Are you looking forward to seeing Seb in our Christmas magazine shoot? Please share your opinions by leaving a comment below.


Comments1
On: 25 September 2012 Permalink
I would like to congratulate Seb’s mum. The best way to inform the general public is to tell them about it, very very publicly. Not unlike the Paralympic games, where tickets were at a premium. Good luck.
3 Trackbacks
[...] wrote on their Facebook page and thanks to an overwhelming response, the company accepted her idea. Seb also features in the Nov/Dec edition of the Your M&S [...]
[...] a little boy with Down’s Syndrome. Seb’s mother, Caroline, posted a picture of Seb on the M&S facebook page to highlight the lack of children with disabilities in TV [...]
[...] didn’t have a bit more diversity. After getting tons of Likes and messages of support, Seb was invited to model for M&S’s Christmas magazine. “Say hello to Seb White” – Source: [...]